Vampirism
by Argentum Dreigon
Summary: Lucian run away. Aaron is worried about his partner. Unable to keep himself locked in the room they share in the Inn, Aaron decides to take a walk and go to Acuna's library, finding an old book of vampirism that answers half of the questions about Lucian.
1. Chapter 1

**(Fixed mistakes - Re-Upload.)**

**Author's Note:** I usually write fiction in Spanish only, but thanks to an especial someone, I have been doing stuff in English too, and last week I came up with this. I have to say that English is not my first language, so there might be grammar mistakes like misspelling of words or in full sentences. I apologize for it, I'm trying to write in English as I do in Spanish, and someday I will. Therefore, be nice with me when reviewing and don't start complaining in "how bad this it's written" and such, because if you don't like how is it written, then I will kindly ask you to stop reading the story wherever you are and close the window or hit the back button in your browser of choice. Thank you.

**IF YOU DON'T READ THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT, I WILL NOT TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY IF YOU WENT DIRECTLY TO READ THE STORY.**

**About the story and other important things (MUST READ):** as stated in the summary, this is a fan fiction with Shonen-ai/Yaoi situations, meaning that this is a story based on MalexMale situations that implicates not only two boys flirting or slight touching in private areas, but also having sex. I do not want flames, rants or anything about the matter in the reviews. Those who ignore this will be ignored too, as seeing how much time they wasted to tell someone who isn't interested in listening their opinion in something they don't like.

I'm done now, so, sit and enjoy the story.

* * *

1

It's been a week since Lucian left, and Aaron only knew about him thanks to Nero, who came every day to tell him that the arrogant dark swordsman was alright, and didn't need anything. Aaron, since his partner left, sat on the window in his room in the Inn and watched the sunset, thinking why Lucian would leave like that, not even bothering to tell him where he was going. Of course, it was like him leaving suddenly and not telling anyone. Lucian was like that, not liking others to dig into his life. But Aaron wanted to dig and know more about him, his likes, his dislikes. Things like that, so every time he would look up to him, he would say "that's Lucian", and not the vampire hunter he has been labeled for too long. He wanted to become friends with the swordsman, but it seemed like he didn't want Aaron's friendship back.

It was already late at night. The sun had set long time ago, and Aaron found himself admiring Lucian's jacket, the only thing he left behind in the Inn, that was hanging from the wardrobe's door. It was clean but still smelled like the swordsman. It helped to the young one to not feel so alone, asides from Toasty and the other four Terrennials that were doing everything to keep him occupied in easy task so he wouldn't think too much in Lucian. It was the shadow silhouette of Nero what interrupted Aaron's though about Lucian.

"Good night, Aaron.", said the winged cat, resting on his lap. Toasty appeared in mid air, smiling. "Toasty. How are you doing?", asked to the young gunslinger, who sighed.

"I miss him.", answered looking at the jacket. "I know that with him is silence and all, but at last I could feel his presence, and now that he is gone, I feel really alone. When is he coming back?"

"Lucian needs to be away for another week.", explained Nero. He dropped his ears at the sight of the sad face of Aaron. "I'm sorry I bring such bad news to you."

"Is ok.", his face showed a sad smile. "If Lucian needs more time, I will wait for him to come back when he is ready."

"Isn't there a possibility that Aaron visits Lucian?", said Toasty. That might light up Aaron's sad mood.

At the suggestion, the young one opened his eyes wide and looked at the cat, hoping that there was a chance to go and see Lucian. Nero thought for a few moments.

"I don't know. I will have to ask him if he feels like receiving visits, but since is you, I think he will not decline. But you know how bitchy is his mood so, no guaranties.", replied the cat.

Aaron smiled widely and hugged the dark Terrennial, thanking him. He let him go, and watched as Nero vanished in the shadows to return to his partner's side. The young one sighed, this time happily, and stood up. Toasty followed him at the wardrobe's door, watching him took down the jacket and put it around his shoulders. He stuck his arms in the sleeves and noticed how big it was for him. But it was warm. Aaron felt like he was besides Lucian once more and didn't feel so alone when he went to bed to get some sleep.

The next morning was cloudy and the dark sky threatens with rain anytime. The soft winds howled between the woods and the silent city of Acuna. Aaron stirred, rolling on his side. The tail of the jacket tangled up in his legs but he didn't notice it until he stood up, falling on the floor with a loud noise. Toasty woke up and laughed at the scene, hearing the young one curse about it. Just then, the light Terrennial noticed how tall Aaron got in those four years that had already passed since the defeat of the Immortal Polidori. The young one once reached Lucian's chest and now, Toasty saw how he could possibly surpass the swordsman's height in no time. Lucian will definitively not like that.

"Today starts the waxing gibbous phase.", mumbled Aaron, seeing a calendar.

Toasty blinked.

"Sorry, I was not listening. What did you say?"

"That waxing gibbous phase starts tonight.", repeated as he walked to the wardrobe to pick up clean clothes. He took off the jacket and left it on the messy bed as he went to the bathroom to take a shower. Toasty followed him. "Will Ernest go into hunting?", asked as he lifted his shirt and tossed it on the floor.

"Possibly not, since is too risky.", answered Toasty. "You know how aggressive vampires turn into this kind of nights. Even if he goes, he will obligate you to stay at the Inn."

Aaron groaned.

"I'm not twelve anymore. I'm already sixteen and can take care of myself pretty well.", replied as he stepped naked into the shower. He closed the white curtain and opened the hot and cold water, regulating its temperature to find the perfect warm water. "And Ernest knows it."

"And you know how overprotective he is from you. He will not let you go outside this week."

"Oh, but if I was with Lucian he would."

"Of course he would. He knows that Lucian will not let anything happen to you."

"He doesn't seem to care a lot about me, though.", said Aaron taking the soap and a sponge.

"Well...", Toasty floated to the toilet and sat on the tank. "Lucian is not exactly a person that can say how he feels or how he feels towards the others easily. His actions say more than his words, and he seems to keep it that way."

The Terrennial heard the boy sigh.

"Sometimes I wish he could look at me and say that he cares about me, as I do about him."

"Oh, he definitely will, but in time.", assured Toasty smiling.

"It's so frustrating!", exclaimed, soaping his body with the sponge. "We have been together for four years and he never said to me that he cared! How much longer I will have to wait to hear him say that?"

"You know that patient is a virtue."

"And you know that I am not the most patient person on the world."

Toasty laughed.

"When it comes to Lucian, no, you aren't."

He saw the boy stop his actions. Seconds later, Aaron stuck his head from the curtain.

"What do you mean with that?"

"Well, you admire Lucian in some many ways.", started the sunflower. "But sometimes it seems that you would like to have more than a mere friendship with him."

"Bullshit!", exclaimed as he turned back to his shower. He finally washed all his body with the soap and proceeded to clean it. "I don't admire him that much."

"At your own eyes, but to the eyes of the others, it looks like that. Are you sure you haven't fallen in love with him?"

"Of course not!!", yelled the teen. Toasty couldn't see it, but he knew that Aaron was blushing deeply. Perhaps not at the thought of being together in an intimate way with the swordsman, but at the simple idea of being in love. The Terrennial whispered how good was to be in love. "What did you say?"

"Nothing, nothing, just thinking to myself in loud voice.", replied Toasty. "So, what do you plan to do today? The day isn't that bright or sunny like yesterday. It's really cloudy and I think is going to rain."

"I don't know but I really want to get out of the Inn. Being locked a week inside is not helping me in waiting up for Lucian."

And he brought the subject back even when Toasty wanted to avoid it. Toasty grinned. Aaron definitely was a lot like his father, specially the obstinate part.

Aaron stepped outside the shower, dripping water from his body. He grabbed a towel and dried his hair first, and then he proceeded to dry his body. Once in the room again, he got dressed thinking where he could go. Perhaps to the library? Reading could help him to kill the time until the night comes and with it, the presence of Nero that would bring Lucian's answer about yesterday. And if Lucian didn't want him to go, he was going anyways. It couldn't be that he stayed away for a week and he, inside the Inn worrying about the swordsman. His visit will be payback for not telling Aaron where he was going. That seemed to be a perfect plan.

Once ready, he took the jacket and put it on, trying not to trip with the tail. The customers in the bar looked at him with weird eyes, thinking why he would put on a jacket bigger than his body. Aaron gave the keys of his room to the owner and stepped outside. Toasty was right. The day was gray and gloomy, ready to rain, but that didn't stop him from going to Acuna's library.

At the first wind blow, Aaron closed the jacket and stuck his hands in the pockets, feeling the haunch of his solar gun, the Knight, firmly locked on the belt around his hips. Looking up, he noticed the trees moving forward at the winds direction. The leaves making soft sounds when brushing to each other, the grass making a rain sound that fooled him several times and the silent Acuna brought him memories of his first encounter with both Viscounts in the middle of the principal street of Thirteen Street. Back then, he was still an apprentice, not knowing how it felt to fight against a strong opponent. When both spotted them, he froze in fear. He didn't know how to react. What should he do? They were vampires, but their Casket Armor reflected sunlight, the energy that his gun used to harm them. Just in time, Ernest and Kay showed up and made him run away to save his life when dealing with both vampires. After knocking out the dark Goat Quimera that guarded the entrance to Thirteen Street, he and Bea went to an Inn to rest with the other gunslinger that survived to the attack of their hideout, and that's when Aaron met Lucian.

The boy smiled at the memory. He could remember Lucian's angry expression when Bea asked him for help to look up for Ernest and Kay. He didn't want Aaron to go, but the boy managed to convince him that he would only accompany the swordman just because he also needed to get rid of both vampires and save his comrades. And the idea of having a solar gunslinger with him wasn't that bad and so, Lucian accepted that Aaron went with him. Now, he noticed how well he spent that time besides the swordsman, especially after Polidori's defeat. They went to the Vambery Tower after receiving news of Alice saying that someone was reviving the dead bodies of the fallen vampires under the Duke's control. And that someone was no other than Polidori and once again, they both went side by side, fighting against the monsters guarding each floor of the Vambery until they run into Polidori's image and defeated him at last. The surprise came when they reached the roof and found not only Perrault, but also the once dead Duke Dumas, standing before them. Aaron flinched when he felt Lucian's rage grow at quick pace. Dumas noticed it and said that he was leaving and will only return when they both grew more powerful to have a rematch. After that, the Duke and his Terrennial disappeared in the air.

From that, it passed four years without notices of him and Perrault, or any other vampire in town. Lucian trained day and night, hoping to defeat Dumas for once and all and accomplish his revenge of Trinity, his former teacher, and Ella. Aaron didn't exactly know who was she, but for the little that Ernest told him, it was a very important and close person to Lucian when he was once the most powerful gunslinger called Sartana. Aaron still wanted to know about his past, but Lucian did not want to talk about it and he didn't know if it was because it hurts him, or the dark powers that Nero transmitted to him when both fused erased some of Lucian's memories, forgetting bits of it.

Sometimes, Aaron felt like the swordsman didn't trust him at all. Why was that? Was because he was Trinity's son and that made Lucian remember his past that wanted to avenge and forget for once? Was because he was still a young and inexpert gunslinger? Or because Lucian saw himself when he was at Trinity's side, fighting against the vampires and against the Lord of Destruction, before Dumas took the opportunity to kill not only that vampire, but also Trinity and taking as hostage and future food Ella? Trinity gave his life to save Sartana, and part of Perrault slipped from her and bonded to Sartana, successfully saving him, but once Sartana woke up and found his closest person to him dead, he couldn't bear it and changed completely, accepting the dark and vampiric powers that the dark Terrennial offered him in tribute of Trinity's life. It was that? Was that Lucian really didn't want to talk about it to Aaron because of how similar his life was, comparing it with Trinity's son?

Was because Lucian didn't want to lose him like he did with Trinity and Ella?

Maybe the swordsman really did care like Toasty said, but Aaron wasn't convince at all. If he cared then, why he was still silent about talking about himself? About his life? His past? Perhaps he made him uncomfortable and that prevented Lucian from talking. Was that the reason behind his runaway?

Aaron noticed that he walked past the library and stepped back. He came in, unbuttoning his jacket when the wind stopped blowing inside the building. There weren't many humans inside neither vampires reading. The only ones in were him and the employers. He walked in, looking up at the high ceiling. The library had a very gothic style, with columns and ornaments around the huge room. The red carpet muffled his steps, while the lights hanging from the ceiling illuminated everything in sight. Without telling the employers that he was going to read, Aaron went to the first bookshelf he reached and started reading the group of books that were there. Since no one was of his taste, he moved to the second line, and the third, fourth. Until he found a really old book talking about vampire's behavior upon each moon phase. Intrigued, he took it from the shelf and opened it, finding the pages too yellow and smelly. The book was really old to have the pages in that kind of yellow.

Aaron picked a quiet place to sit, far away from the main entrance were the wind couldn't find him to play with his brown, spiky bangs or loose clothes. He turned on the lamp and sat, opening the book and reaching the first page written in an ancient language that he still managed to understand. Looking up, he noticed a big clock above the receptionist. It was early, about a quarter to eleven. He could read until noon, eat and then come again to keep reading until the moon showed on the dark sky of the night.

The first chapter talked about new moon phase. Most vampires were more closed to other of their own race, humans and other creatures or slaves. They would not talk but sleep more than the usual, rest. They would be inactive even during the night, preferring to stay in a quiet, silent place rather than being in loudly crowds trying to find their next prey. Most cases were like this, but some vampires weren't affected by this phase and didn't have these symptoms. They would, though, feel more lazy and with a tendency to rest and sleep a lot.

Aaron blinked, remembering that Lucian on those nights seemed to feel rather sleepy. He wouldn't do much, but being lazy all day, lying down on the bed just resting or simply looking at the ceiling, something that amused Aaron to no end. When he wanted to pick up an arguing with him, Lucian often grumbled and didn't reply to the boy, turning around and simply ignoring Aaron, something that the young one didn't like at all. After trying to pick him up, eventually giving up, noticing that Lucian, then, would come after him to annoy the boy a bit before going to bed once more. That was what Aaron really hated about that strange mood that the half vampire often had.

Concentrating into the book again, the young one kept reading the first chapter. There was a method to keep vampires in this state for a longer period of time, that consist in making a quiet, silent atmosphere where the vampire could relax and sleep all day without being disturbed. New moon phase was the only time where vampires are most vulnerable since they are unaware of the surroundings. It wasn't easy to hunt and kill them as most hunters would think. They would hide even underground to prevent being disturbed, making it difficult to localize them. Others would prefer resting on high trees, far away from hunters, infested castles with Boks and other creatures such like Clay and Rock Golems and skeletons. But the majority will go out and find a place near water to sleep, because the water's sound relaxed and lulled them to sleep.

Aaron though that, once Lucian returned, he could try one of those methods. He wanted to see how lazy the swordsman could get without getting him irritated. The water trick was interesting, thinking that he may go to the Old Culiacan's Aqueduct or near a lake somewhere, hoping that Lucian would not feel too lazy to accompany him. He giggled at the idea.

The next phase was the crescent. After being asleep for a few days, vampires will slowly awake and prepare themselves to go and look for their next prey. After sleeping and resting like that, their bodies needed fresh blood to start function again. They would hunt in the night, and keep their normal rhythm for the next moon phase, which was the first quarter. Upon the first moments of the waxing gibbous, vampires start to have a more aggressive conduct, especially male ones. Their bloodlust slowly disappears to be replaced with high amounts of hormones and pheromones in the air that will tell vampires who can be their potential mate. For the next days, they will try to seduce their mates and will notice if they are fertile enough to actually copulate with them, and stay with that mate until the ends of their days. This copulating happens during the first and last instants of full moon phase. During full moon, vampires succumb entirely to their sexual needs and become fully aggressive and possessive of their future mates, protecting them from other competitive vampires. They can be fully active all the phase and then, in the waning gibbous phase, they sleep all day to recuperate the strength they lost in the mating and start feeding once more, but with more hungry than usual, making the phase after the mate really dangerous, since vampires are still aggressive but not because of the pheromones or sexual needs, but rather because they are hungry. Last quarter and last crescent phases aren't special. Vampires keep their usual behavior that characteristic them so much until the next phase.

That resumes the book pretty much, and Aaron now understood more about vampires than before. He had a wrong idea of them since no one actually instructed into vampire activities, and though they were just like humans, but dead and drink blood. But with this, he noticed that they were not also humans. Being converted into a vampire meant also to awake a few primitive instincts asleep in modern humans, which were the ones that the book mentioned in the different phases of the moon. It meant not only become something else, but also remember how it was to be a beast, being controlled by the instinct of survival, mating, resting... He remembered Lucian and how he would feel each month with each moon phase. It looked like a menstrual cycle and it made Aaron laugh out loud at the though of Lucian having premenstrual symptoms, like being highly hysterical or highly sensitive, like most of the human women does.

He went to the receptionist and asked if he could borrow the book. After the man took his personal information, Aaron buttoned his jacket and walked outside the library, finding that the wind stopped blowing. It was still cold, but it wasn't that cold without the wind blowing. His stomach growled and started walking towards the nearest restaurant to sit and eat something. After eating, he could go for a short walk and then return to the Inn, have a nap and wait for Nero to come. Smiling at his plan, he kept walking until he reached a small bar, stepped inside and went directly to one of the single tables near the farthest wall in it. Not bothering in taking the jacket off, he sat, put the book asides and took the menu to read it, thinking what he would eat, not knowing it was already ten past three in the afternoon.

While waiting for the food to come, the waiter came and poured in a glass the water he asked, not really caring since he grabbed the book again and started to read. It was funny to find a section of things that would work on vampires such as different types of perfumes that had the same effects as a powerful aphrodisiac. The book was really complete in subjects related to vampirism that he never though of. When food came, he closed it and started eating, but the curiosity was stronger and, while eating, he read finding more and more interesting things.

When he finished, he asked for the bill, paid and left, book in hand, still reading. Now, he wasn't sure if he was going to take a nap because he was very absorbed in the book when he reached the Inn. Aaron asked for the keys, grabbed them and walked upstairs, opened the door and found no traces of Toasty. He closed the door, tossed the keys on the light table and flopped down on the bed, kicking his boots out and relaxing, opening the book once more to keep reading where he left.

The book talked about forms for treating different types of vampires, such like dealing with different types of human. There was a special chapter that talked about almost every type of vampire; the arrogant, the selfish, the sensible, the indifferent, the lustful, etc, and how to deal with them. Aaron found that Lucian's category was between the arrogant and indifferent, yet he found also a bit of him in the careless one. He sighed, knowing that Lucian will never be able to care about someone else like he did with Trinity and Ella. Aaron wanted to be cared, and perhaps loved, like those two people were in the past. And laughed at the though. He was fighting against two dead people! But, then again, who can fight against dead people? They always win, no matter what. Even then, Aaron would try his best to let Lucian see that he could trust again, more special in him, and there was nothing to fear of.

He found a section dedicated to half vampires, commonly called dhampirs, and got interested in it. Lucian was catalogued as a dhampir since he was human still, but the dark powers within him also granted the power of vampires, thus making him an incomplete vampire. Most dhampirs were not affected by moon phases, but it will only depend on how strong is their vampiric energy. If there were enough amounts in their bodies, then they would feel the effect of the phases as if they were full vampires, but it would vary from dhampir to dhampir. Sometimes, even if the power is high, the phases will not have any effect in them for long period of time. This period can vary from a few days to months and even years. It's not strange than a dhampir will suddenly feel the effects of the moon in a certain phase and then not have any symptoms in the others. The effect can also disappear out of the sudden, leaving no trail behind, and disappear for long period of times until the next reaction to the moon. Sometimes, dhampirs are more aggressive and possessive than most vampires, being these the most dangerous ones in the mating cycles. Since they don't have the need to feed from blood, the next phase in where they should recover by drinking blood, dhampirs only sleeps for a day straight.

Aaron thought of Lucian, again. The waxing gibbous phase will start that night. Could it be possible that the swordsman started to react towards the phases just now? That could be the main reason after his runaway and would also answer the negative in Lucian's upon seeing him that night, if Nero came with the 'no'. The young one snorted. Who would think that the arrogant and mean swordsman was just getting into his mating cycle? Now, he wanted to see him more and see if Lucian was alright.

"Oh, what are you reading?", asked the soft voice of Nero from the shadows. The cat materialized in front of Aaron, surprising him. "I'm sorry, I should've been more careful."

Aaron laughed.

"Don't worry. I'm used to it, anyways.", the winged cat rested on his chest, taking a look at the book. "I found it in Acuna's library and I have been reading it since then."

"Interesting.", answered Nero. "It's a very old edition, but the author was one of the best in vampirism. With this, you will fully understand vampires. Not even your father could explain what this book tells. You are lucky you found it."

"So..."

Nero sighed.

"He declined. He doesn't want you to come."

"I'm going to visit him anyways, and you know it.", Aaron put the book aside and stood up, grabbing Nero so he wouldn't fall from his chest.

"He is in a very tight situation.", tried to explain but the young one petted his head, hushing him.

"I came to the conclusion that Lucian is starting his own mating cycle, and I worry about other vampires that may come to where he is hiding to pick a fight.", said the boy, sitting and putting his boots on. "Please Nero, I beg you to lead me where Lucian is."

"I don't know if it's a good idea.", whispered softly. "Really, is not secure enough for you to go. Most vampires travels there to look up for mates and there have been fights already."

"With more reason I should go!", exclaimed the teen. Nero wished he bit his tongue before talking.

"Aaron, please! It's dangerous and Lucian will not like to have you injured because of him!", pleaded the cat, looking how the young boy picked up a bag to put some clothes in. He checked his solar gun and returned it to the belt. "What will Toasty say when he finds it out?"

"He never will since I'm leaving now.", answered in a serious tone Aaron. He opened the window and looked down. No one was there. He put a foot on the roof, then the other one. Stepping out, he walked glued to the wall. Nero went out too, worried about the teen's safety.

"Why are you so obstinate? Can't you see this could put your life in danger? That you could die?", the cat wasn't going to give up. Even if he leave right there, Aaron would look up the path on his own and that was more dangerous than him leading the correct path to the dhampir. "Lucian will not be happy if you die."

"Then tell him to start opening up to me so I don't worry that much about him. The more he closes the more stupid things I will do for him."

Nero sighed.

"Alright, I will lead you to him. Just a warning.", Aaron turned his head to look at the winged cat. "There is someone with him that you may not... like at all, but you must not do anything against that someone because is the only one that can help Lucian in this situation. Promise me you will not start shooting against him."

"I will not, don't worry."

Nero smiled. He glowed in a faint red light and a pitch, black path formed at Aaron's feet, slipping from it towards the ground. The teen looked at the cat that nodded, saying it was safe to step on it. Aaron put a foot on it, and then the other. The feeling was weird, because he knew he was walking on something, but at the same time, it felt like he was walking on the air. Once he reached the ground, the path disappeared. The young one buttoned up the jacket and followed the Terrennial through the woods. From time to time, both could hear roars and grunts from the furthest places. That was a signal to them to take another route to avoid the fighting vampires meters away from them.

They were climbing a mountain as Aaron noticed after a while. The trees were getting taller and taller, the plants didn't cover all the ground and some of them were already dry because of the weather up there. The moonlight illuminated the path for both travelers but the clouds were trying to cover it again, passing before the moon and hiding it for a few minutes.

"This is really far from Acuna or the other cities.", said Aaron when he could see the Dark Castle from there. It looked really small and black thanks to the darkness surrounding New Culiacan. "Where is this place?"

"It's a little cottage near the top of the mountain. It was the safest place for Lucian to be, since not many humans comes here.", explained Nero, looking back at the boy. "Besides, he can be as aggressive as he wants. No one will get hurt if he picks a fight with a random vampire that comes across the territory of the cottage."

Aaron smiled.

"I'm looking forwards to see Lucian fighting like the crazy vampire he is."

Nero laughed.

"Lucian is not a vampire. He is a dhampir, like you well know."

"Yes, but he sometimes acts more like a vampire than a dhampir or human. Haven't you noticed?"

The cat sighed.

"Just sometimes. I also hate the idea that he, slowly, is becoming the thing he hates the most, not being able to revert the effect. Even the eye patch can't prevent him to become a full vampire."

"He will become a full vampire when he goes into first hunting, and that will never happen.", assured Aaron.

"With you being around him, I don't know how that will be possible."

"I'm not going to lure him to drink my blood!!", yelled the boy, walking faster to catch up Nero's speed.

"Even like that, he will be attracted to drink it. Remember that you are still human.", the boy was about to talk when the cat interrupted him. "Like it or not, Lucian will become a vampire. What are you going to do, then? Will you kill him?"

"Not even in a million of years."

"And what if he asks you to kill him?"

"I will not grant his wish, because vampire or not, Lucian will be still being Lucian and that's what matters. I will take care of him, and I will protect him from the other gunslingers."

Nero stopped, not believing what Aaron said.

"I beg your pardon? You will protect him from Ernest and the others? What makes you think like that? Do you know that Lucian will not agree---"

"I give a fuck about what Lucian has to say about it!!", yelled the teen. "I am not going to betray him just because he is a dhampir, not even when he becomes a full vampire! He will be still my friend, my partner and I will protect him at any cost! If I have to give my life to save him, like my father did, I will."

The cat smiled.

"I knew you were the right one for him. Lucian kept saying that no one would ever like him how he was now, meaning that no one will look after him being half vampire, but you... You stand for him and help him to stand up if he falls.", Nero stopped. "It's nice to see that there're people that recognizes vampires as equals. I think friendship is the most valuable thing that a vampire can get from a human, and vice versa.", he pointed with one of his leg to a cottage hidden between tall trees. "There is the cottage. When I came to the Inn, Lucian was sleeping but now he should be awake."

Aaron felt excited. He was going to see Lucian! After a long time, he managed to come and see him. He made a single step and two huge blades came from nowhere. They were bloody red and in the shape of a crescent moon. The agile boy dodged them and took out his Knight, aiming to the enemy, ready to strike, but Nero calmed him down.

"Don't. He just felt the presence of an intruder and attacked.", the cat floated forwards. "Hey, is only Aaron and me!! You should be more careful!"

"Aaron, you said? Are you fucking insane?! Lucian will get mad at us because of letting him get in here!", answered a deep, angry male voice. Somehow, the voice was familiar to Aaron. The silhouette of a cloaked vampire came in sight, but it was still to dark to see his face. "Do you know how many problems the kid will give us? Lucian is so going to kick my ass again."

"Shut up Dumas, you agreed with this so don't complain.", said Nero.

"Dumas?", repeated Aaron. "You mean the Duke?"

"Of course he means the Duke! Who else, kid?", said the male voice again. The silhouette stepped outside the darkness and Aaron gasped at the sight of the two-horned vampire that long ago, was his and Lucian's main target. "Long time no see, Trinity's son."

"You have to be kidding me Nero!!", yelled Aaron . "Are you saying that Dumas is the one helping Lucian?"

"Who else? Other vampires would have killed Lucian at first sight and the only one that knew him perfectly fine was the Duke. Besides, Dumas is still weak after the regeneration of his body and can't fight for long period of times.", explained the cat.

"After four years?"

"After four, fucking long years.", added the Duke walking towards him. "Polidori's regeneration isn't that good, and is taking time to this body to heal up after that fight in the Vambery. Now, if you want to see your little boyfriend follow me, or the vampires that you heard earlier will come and eat you.", said Dumas spinning around and walking to the cottage.

"Lucian is not my boyfriend.", replied Aaron, following to the former Duke of New Culiacan. Nero followed too, sighing. That was going to be a hell of week.

The inside of the cottage was lighted up with candles instead of electrical energy. The wires that once provided the little house were gone, probably by the rat's work that loves to eat those kinds of things. It had a living-dining room, a kitchen, a bathroom and, surprisingly, three bedrooms. In the living there was a circular table with two chairs and a library full with books. Aaron supposed that Dumas lived there after he flew from Vambery, because the windows were all covered up with dark curtains to prevent the Sun to let in the cottage. The boy left the bag on the table, his eyes trying to adjust to the little light in the room.

The door at the right of the kitchen opened slowly. Dumas was now sitting on the couch, not really paying attention to the surroundings. He seemed tired and weaker than Aaron remembered him.

"What the fuck are you doing here?", came Lucian's voice from the doorway.

"Excuse me?", replied Aaron in a harsh tone that surprised not only to the dhampir, but also to the Terrennial and the vampire. "I have been fucking worried about you all this damn week and the only thing you have to tell me is 'what the fuck I'm doing here'?"

"I have told Nero that I didn't want you to come!!", yelled Lucian back, stepping out from his room. He stood in front of Aaron and the boy shuddered at the glowing red eye. Without the eye patch, it looked more fearsome than the first day he met him. But now that he was that close to Lucian, he could see that his other eye was starting to dye into a crimson color, too. What Nero said was true. Lucian was becoming a vampire regardless the eye patch that controlled his dark powers. "It's dangerous for you to be here!! That's the main reason I didn't want you to come!"

"Oh, because if it wasn't dangerous, would you have taken me? Of course not!! You always do this sort of things by yourself! And fuck! You even asked the help of the Duke, the very one you wanted to kill in first place!!", Lucian got hurt at those words but didn't reply. "You could have asked for my help, since I was the closest to you! But no! You preferred to humiliate yourself before coming to me!"

"I did not humiliated myself.", assured the dhamhir, cracking his fingers. He was getting irritated and the last thing he wanted to do was hurting Aaron.

"Yes you did! Who would ask for their enemy's helps when having friends that will give everything in them to help?! YOU!", yelled the boy.

"What do you know about me to come here and yell at me?!"

"I came here to fucking help you!! And how the fuck do you want me to know you if you don't open up to me?! You don't tell me your things, your worries, your problems!! You don't trust me!"

"I do!", the more they yelled, the more Lucian get hurt. "I do trust you! I just... I just..."

Aaron walked to him and hugged him tightly. The dhampir shuddered at the contact, but returned the warm and gentle gesture.

"You fear you will get hurt again, don't you?", whispered Aaron.

"I'm so sorry.", said the dhampir, petting his friend's head. "I'm not exactly good with words, I have never been. I'm terrible expressing my feelings or trying to tell my problems."

"Like I don't know that.", mumbled Aaron with a soft smile. Lucian saw it and smiled too, sighing.

"I'm sorry.", apologized again the dhampir.

"It's alright.", Aaron separated himself from Lucian and looked up. "Nero told me you had problems with your powers. How...", he took a deep breath, but Lucian knew what was about to ask. "How fast are you... well..."

"Unbelieve fast.", said Dumas from the couch. "I noticed that the more he fights against vampires, using his dark powers and letting himself go out of control, the faster the vampiric powers takes over his body.", he explained as he got up. He groaned when the room started to spin. He hated when his body felt dizzy. "The eye patch doesn't work anymore so we tossed it away. As far I know, there is nothing to stop the transformation. The Heaven Fruit will only stop it for a time, but as the powers increases, the method to prevent it will not work on Lucian anymore", he looked at Aaron and walked towards him. Dumas put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, but Lucian will become a vampire in a way or the other, and there is nothing you, me or even Sheridan can do. Once the curse has awaken, nothing can stop it.", Aaron jumped in surprise. He spun and saw Lucian's fist into the table. Not saying anything, he walked inside his room and closed the door softly. Dumas sat on the couch again while the boy sat on one of the chairs. "He hates to admit it, but he has been crying since Sheridan told him that. I have talked with him about this the first day he came to me, but didn't believe me."

"It's hard for him to realize that he is becoming the thing he hates the most.", whispered Aaron. Nero landed on his head, purring softly.

"You are strange, kid.", said amused Dumas. Aaron lifted his head and looked at the former Duke. "I was expecting cursing or even threat from you towards me, but here you are, all calm and silent, even talking with me, the one that killed your father and brought the curse to your friend. Why don't you try to take revenge for what I have done?"

"Doing it like this, when you are this weak...", Aaron smiled. "... it's not fun at all. I would win easily and taking this kind of advantage is not what Ernest or Lucian thought me."

"What will you do after Lucian becomes a vampire? Will you still hunt us down?"

"I honestly don't know, but I will protect him from other gunslingers.", answered Aaron. "I don't know what will Ernest think about this, but I don't care anymore. Lucian is now the most important person for me right now."

Dumas smirked.

"How will you prove that Lucian is that important to you?", dared the vampire.

"Do you really want me to shoot you?"

"Not now, it will ruin all the fun."

Aaron laughed and stood up, taking Nero off of his head and placing him on the table. He went to Lucian's room and knocked on the door, not receiving answer. He turned to look at Dumas, who shrugged. The boy opened the door, finding the dhamhir sitting on the edge of the window, looking outside. Aaron stepped inside, closing the door behind him and walked slowly towards Lucian. He was nervous. He didn't know what to expect from Lucian being affected by the moon's phase that night. The dhampir smiled at him when he turned around and told him to come. The young one did so, accepting the offer of his friend besides him. Aaron lifted himself up and sat on the window, in front of Lucian, and smiled warmly at him.

"My jacket is pretty big for you.", whispered the dhampir.

"I know.", answered Aaron, who hugged the jacket tighter. "It was the only thing that told me that I wasn't alone. Can you smell? It still has your scent."

Lucian smiled softly.

"You are such a wonder, Aaron."

"I am?"

"Maybe Nero told you, but I lost hopes at finding a person that would accept me how I am, rather to what I am. That's why in the beginning, four years ago, I was scared to answer your questions, because I feared that once I told you what I was, you would leave my side like many others did in the past before meeting you."

"And now you know that you can trust me."

"Very much.", answered the dhampir sighing. "I feel that I can trust my life to you without worrying that you will stab me on my back."

"I feel the same way, you know."

Lucian laughed.

"I never knew I would end up saying this but, you sounded so cute."

Aaron couldn't help it and blushed deeply, hiding inside the jacket. He jerked in surprise when he noticed how close Lucian was from him. His glowing, vampiric eye was looking at him directly and Aaron shivered. Without warning, the dhampir lowered his head and started nibbling at the teen's neck.

"Ah! Lucian, what are you doing?!", yelled in surprise at the strange but good feeling he was getting from the dhampir's action. Lucian changed his tactic and, instead of keep nibbling, he put on the soft skin hungry kisses and bites, feeling himself getting excited at the boy's scent. "Nng... Mmm... What..."

Aaron's question was cut with a soft moan. The dhampir's hand rushed to Aaron's sides and closed around his waist, lifting him up and sitting him on his lap without breaking or stop kissing the boy's neck. Lucian couldn't control himself, he just felt like doing it and now he rejected it. The simple scent of Aaron was enough to turn him on and he could already feel his groin going hard. His hands slipped under the teen's shirt feeling the softness of the skin. Aaron gasped and Lucian moaned on his neck.

The dhampir lifted his shirt and the boy fought against it but eventually he gave up, shuddering when the hot and wet tongue of his partner found one of his erected nipples, starting to play with it with his fangs, biting softly but hard enough to make Aaron moan at the electric sensations filling his body. He arched and Lucian took advantage to travel down with his tongue, reaching his naval and waist band of his pants. He was about to grab the zip and pull them down when Aaron pulled his hair.

"Ow, shit!! That hurt!!", yelled in pain the dhampir. "Let go of my hair!"

"Get your hands off of my pants, now.", said Aaron in a serious tone.

Lucian blushed in embarrassment and put his hands away, letting the boy get off of his lap and jump to the floor.

"Sorry.", apologized the dhampir, not being able to look up at Aaron after that.

"Don't worry, I already read about how vampire gets in the waxing gibbous moon phase.", answered the boy. "It was fun, but just not now, alright? You should rest."

"Are you saying that you enjoyed it?"

"Pretty much."

"Will you let me touch you in some more... private parts of your body?", asked Lucian, half closing his eyes. The scent was all over him. He was not going to be able to keep his hands away from Aaron's soft skin now.

"Always so impatient.", said the boy smirking and winking an eye to the dhampir.

"When it comes to you, yes, a lot."

Aaron laughed and flopped on the bed to get some rest. Lucian quickly went to bed with him too, letting the boy curl up in his arms. He smelled Aaron's scent and purred, tangling his legs with his partner.

"Do you mind...?", said Lucian.

"Not at all.", answered Aaron, hugging the dhampir's waist and drifting to sleep, hearing the soft and not so loud heart beats of his partner.


	2. Chapter 2

**Fixed some mistakes.**

* * *

2

Aaron stirred, moaning in sleeps. He rolled on his side, feeling a comfortable warmth besides him. The sunlight went inside the room from the open window from last night, illuminating the two figures tangled on the bed. Lucian had both of his arms around the boy in a possessive way, his legs upon Aaron's body, protecting his partner with his own body. The dhampir's breaths were calm and noiseless, but his ears were listening carefully to everything that was happening in the room. Even the soft cracks the wooden floor made woke Lucian up. His eyes would scan the room for enemies and once he noticed there was no one besides them, he would close his eyes and sleep besides Aaron again.

Dumas opened the door slowly. Perrault, a feather, winged cat with light purple and white fur, landed on his head smiling at the sight of both boys lying down on the bed, curled in each other's arms. Though the scene was cute the former Duke stepped inside, barefoot and wearing only short pants, trying to avoid the sunlight. He cursed Lucian for letting it open last night, knowing how he hated it. Perrault flew to it and covered it with a curtain she found on the floor, near it. When it was safe to step, Dumas went to the bed and shook Aaron's shoulder softly. The boy groaned, moving closer to Lucian's body.

"Damn kid...", mumbled the vampire. "Hey, wake up.", whispered in his ear. The boy moaned and rolled on his back, opening his eyes and rolling to the other side, spotting the good looking abs of the former Duke.

"You have... such nice abs, Dumas...", said the boy half sleep.

The vampire snorted. Aaron was an interesting kid, especially at those morning hours.

"But Lucian's are better.", added after a few seconds.

"Ok, that hurt. That really, really hurt.", said Dumas smiling. "Come on, get up."

"Why? It's too early.", complained Aaron, rolling once more into Lucian's arms.

"You will be more helpful if you stay awake during the night. I want you to be tired so you sleep all afternoon and then, you will be awake in the night like us. Wouldn't you like to be with Lucian all night?"

Aaron rubbed his eyes. He looked up to Dumas.

"That's a good idea.", he said getting up trying not to wake Lucian up.

The vampire left the room and the boy helped Perrault to put the curtain back in place before leaving. Nero was already awake, curled up on the table with his red wings folded on his back. He perked his ears upon the noise and smiled when he saw the young one go into the kitchen.

Aaron found milk in a refrigerator and a box of cereal. Taking a bowl from under the sink, he poured the cereals and the milk, adding two spoons of sugar. He put the milk inside the refrigerator again and went to the living, sitting on the table and starting to eat his breakfast. Nero came to him and asked for milk, and Aaron lifted the spoon filled with milk, letting the thirsty cat drink. Once again, Dumas was resting on the couch.

"Do you really like being on the couch?", said the boy with curiosity.

"A lot.", answered the vampire, yawning. Perrault was curled on his lap, wings folded on her back. "Since I found the cottage, this became my bed."

"You sleep there?", asked surprised. He put the spoon in the bowl, when Nero finished drinking the milk, and lifted it again, filled with cereal and milk, and ate.

"Yeah... I don't like beds.", he watched the human ate. "Does it taste good?"

"The cereal? Yes."

"I forgot what taste has cereal, long time ago.", he sighed. "I can't even remember what was the last human though I had before transforming in what I am now."

"Are you feeling alright? It's not typical of you to came with this, specially when you hated humans.", said Aaron, worrying that the former Duke would have caught some sort of vampire flu.

Dumas grinned.

"Being like this, and had traveling between humans once more, it made me think of those little things that I have pushed away when I had complete control four years ago.", explained, crossing his legs and resting his arms on the back of the couch. "Polidori made me to only think in myself and in what I could do with the power I had and he gave me."

"Wasn't your goal to kill the Lord of Destruction and get the title of the strongest vampire?", asked Aaron eating another spoon of cereal.

"The Lord of Destruction had a name, refer to him as Ratatosk.", answered Dumas. "Yes, it was, but now... I just realized that even if I heal completely, even if I bring my powers again, what would I do? Taking over New Culiacan with a new army of vampires is impossible, since no one would like to be besides a weak creature like me.", he lowered his left arm and petted Perrault's head and back. "The only one that keeps besides me is this little creature sleeping on my lap.", he added with a big smile. "Not caring if I am weak or strong, or if I am healthy or sick. She is just here, like you are there to Lucian, and takes care of me since the day she became my servant. Even after four years, Perrault is still by my side, and forgave me for all I have done that time and I don't have enough thanks to thank her for being by my side. Now I understand Sartana's passion and how he was moved by it, especially when it was with Trinity and Ella."

"Do you know who was she?", asked the boy, finishing his breakfast.

Dumas sighed.

"Just a little.", the vampire rubbed Perrault's wings softly, smiling when he heard the cat purr. "It was a pretty woman that Sartana loved. I don't know if they were already a couple, but he took care of her all the time. They were inseparable, like two sides of the same coin. After I took her, Sartana came with Trinity trying to rescue Ella and Sartana's rage fall on me.", he smiled again at the memory. "I swear, not even Ratatosk was that angry when I fought him. Eleven years ago, he kicked my ass so wonderfully. I though I was going to lose but I managed to kill Sartana and Trinity before they killed me. Returning to the main subject, I would say that Ella was Sartana's girlfriend, but I am not completely sure about that. You should ask Lucian."

"He is losing his memories.", said the young one. "The transformation is eating them up, and I fear that once he becomes full vampire, he will forget about me."

"No, no, Lucian will definitely not forget you. I can assure you that."

"How? All humans that finish transforming into vampires lose all its humanity, including their memory."

"Lucian is having a different transformation.", Nero, who fall asleep again, perked his ears and opened his eyes lazily. Aaron waited. "The eyepatch helped in that. The amulet inside it prevents the dark powers to take the physical form of the host and change it to a vampire's physical characteristics; blue skin, pointy ears and perhaps horns or wings like I have. Instead, the dark powers started changing Lucian's insides. His teeth grew longer and pointy, his stomach slowly rejects human food, only accepting the blood from juicy meat, especially red meat. His muscles became stronger, his hearing is much, much better than before (even better than mine), and his smell has increased too, now he can see in the night like he was in the day. Those things is what the dark powers changed in Lucian, and since he wore the eyepatch for about... eleven years now, perhaps a bit less than that, his transformation hasn't came to a physical level except for his red eyes and long claws.", Perrault yawned, curling up on her master's lap, falling asleep again. "Lucian will lose his memory, that's something we can not change, but the more time he spends with you the less he will forget about you. Even if he hunts for the first time, if you are besides him when that happens, he will not forget about you. He will remember your scent, your voice."

"How can you be so sure about that?"

"I have seen cases like that.", said the vampire. "I have my hopes that Lucian will not forget about you.", he saw Aaron's sad expression and groaned. "Kid! If you don't cheer up I will slap you, ok? Have faith in Lucian. You came all this way to him, right? Then trust him and in what I say. Otherwise, he will end up forgetting about you."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't, kid. It's alright.", Dumas smiled, leaning his head on the back of the sofa. "You can go out if you want. Vampires will not be awake at these hours."

"To recognize your territory?", said Aaron getting up. He took the bowl and left it in the sink. After his walk he would wash it.

The vampire laughed softly.

"Well, before it was, but seems like Lucian has taken it from me the third day he came."

"He stole it from you? That's amazing. Are you that weak?", giggled Aaron, checking that his Knight was charged.

"Excuse me, I am not that weak. I just let it pass because I didn't want to fight with him.", defended himself the former Duke.

"Right."

"Take that back! Now!", yelled Dumas, lifting his head up.

"Make me!", yelled back Aaron, stepping outside the cottage.

The bright sunlight made the boy close his eyes for a few seconds before adjusting to it. The woods looked more attractive and calm, unlike last night that seemed fearsome and noisy with the vampires fighting each other. The high mountains behind him were covered with thick, dark clouds. Aaron though if those clouds would bring either rain or snow, if it gets too cold during the night. Flying on the sky there was several hunting birds, looking down for possible preys to eat. Aaron started walking away from the cottage, watching his surroundings and trying to memorize them. He would not like to be lost in the night with all those aggressive vampires out there. The boy shivered at the mere though, but it also would mean that Lucian will come to protect him wherever he was. That made him smile warmly. He was going to ask Dumas if he could escort him that night to see Lucian fight against another vampire. He really wanted to watch the dhampir use all his bestiality and instincts in a real encounter.

Aaron shivered in excitement.

The boy kept walking in the woods, finding easy recognizable plants, trees or rocks that leaded his way back. Even like that, he marked them with a single shot of his gun and kept walking, getting closer to the mountain's top. The air around was getting thicker and it was hard to breath at that altitude. Seeing that it was impossible for him to keep going without a special equip, he spun on his heels and returned from a different path from before, marking rocks with the gun each time he passed in front of them. He noticed that bigger rocks had claws marking, thinking if those marks were Lucian's, Dumas' or of other vampires. He hoped he didn't mark on the enemy territory. That would make the vampires back in the cottage really mad.

Aaron was getting sleepy. The warm of the Sun made his walk tiresome and lazy. He wanted to go back, but now that he looked around, he noticed that it was in a place inside the woods that he didn't like at all. It was all marked with scratches and dried blood on the ground, trees and nearly rocks. He swallowed hard. Was that a fighting field during the night for vampires? Better not to mark anything in there or he would be in serious troubles because of it.

"Oh?", he exclaimed upon seeing a silhouette hiding in the shadows of the woods. It was a young woman covered from head to toes. Aaron took his Knight in his right hand and hid it, approaching to her.

"Mm? Who are you?", asked the young woman, looking up at him. Aaron noticed she was a vampire because of her bright, red eyes.

"Just a traveler.", answered the boy.

The woman smiled.

"It's pretty rare to see travelers up here, specially during this agitated nights.", said the woman. Aaron could see her long fangs and trembled. He was alone now, and was not used to fighting alone. "You have the smell of the new vampire who came here last week. Are you his slave?"

Aaron thought it for a moment. If he answered no, then the woman would want him to be her personal slave, her next mate or her next food.

"Yes, I am."

"You don't look like a slave. Your hands and body are in good shape.", replied the female vampire, turning on his heels, looking up at the boy. "You aren't a slave, you don't even have the bite marks on your neck that claims you like a work-boy."

Aaron cursed mentally. He completely forgot about the bite marks on the slave's bodies that claimed and bounded them to their vampire masters. Other vampires would know what slave was with what vampire with only smelling on the bite mark. The woman approached him and Aaron stepped back, taking his hand on the buttock of his gun, ready to take it out and shoot.

"You must leave."

"Excuse me?"

"Leave. This is no place for a young human like you.", said in a sad tone the woman. "Vampires are too aggressive in nights like these."

"I have my reasons to be here."

"Who would in their sane judge come up here, to the wolf's mouth?", exclaimed the woman.

"I, because I have a friend to take care of."

He saw the woman's surprised look on her face.

"Are you a friend of the new vampire?", she laughed. "That's impossible! Humans and vampires can not befriend! Hunter and prey can't ever be on the same side, never!"

"Why not? He wasn't born as a vampire, he is changing into one, and even if he becomes one, I will be always by his side."

"Oh, that's it...", the woman walked closer to Aaron and stopped just a few feet away from him. "You are a very pretty human boy, no wonder why the new vampire didn't want you to come here."

"You know my friend?", Aaron was careful enough to not say Lucian's name or even his. You never have to tell to a wizard your name or he will do whatever he wants with you. Some vampires had the ability to control humans or other creatures by knowing their name only.

"Just a bit. I came across with him and his partner a few times since they came here.", explained the woman. "He is the one with purple hair, right?", Aaron nodded. "Anyways, you should be careful during the night if you want to accompany them in their hunts or fights. Some vampires would love to have you for their next mate or food because of how attractive you are.", Aaron felt blood rush to his cheeks. He was so embarrassed now. "I feel you have strong potential for any vampire to be their next mate, rather than being their next food. I take back what I said about being food."

"How could I be a vampire's mate? I'm human and... well..."

"It doesn't matter if it is human or not. If the creature has strong potential to be one, then vampires will do anything to be their next mate of that creature.", explained the woman. "I warn you. Stay really close to your friend. Tonight will be a really blood field once the vampires living here notices you.", said the woman before fading in the shadows of the forest.

He turned back and started walking towards the cottage, which found after running in circles for about three hours straight. He opened the door, finding Dumas sleeping on the couch with Perrault curled on his lap. Nero was sprawled on the table, snoring softly. Aaron laughed at the sight of the black cat's position, but walked past him to Lucian's room. There, he found the dhampir in the same position when the former Duke woke him up. The boy took off the jacket and tossed it at the bed's feet, climbing on it and curling inside Lucian's arm, which surrounded his body when they met.

"Where were you been?", asked the sleepy voice of the dhampir.

"Out."

Lucian grinned, nuzzling Aaron's neck. He tangled their legs together, purring loudly.

"Doing what?", asked in naughty voice, starting to nibble the boy's neck.

Aaron tensed up but soon relaxed.

"Recognizing your territory.", answered. He leaned his head on Lucian's chest, hearing his soft heart beats.

Lucian grinned.

"Hope you didn't get lost in it."

"Just a bit."

Aaron closed his eyes, made himself comfortable and soon, he fall asleep.

Night came quickly and, with it, more roars from the vampires looking out for a mate. The hissing sounds and the hits traveled in the air, reaching Lucian's ears. He was sitting on the cottage's roof, Nero by his side, trying to get as much information as he could from the other vampires outside his territory. This way, he would be in advantage if one of them wanted to take Aaron from his side. The moon was near its next phase and the closer it was, the more aggressive Lucian became. When he woke up, Dumas cheered him and the dhampir growled at him, not really in the mood to befriend the former Duke. But Dumas knew why he received that response, and was because he stepped inside Lucian's room without permission. The dhampir took it as a sign of harm upon the still sleeping Aaron and reacted towards his instincts of protecting his future mate. Now, he was waiting for the boy awake and let him accompany him to one of their fights.

The dhampir was excited. He really wanted Aaron to see what was capable of, to tell him how worthy he was to be his next mate. The other vampires were trash compared to him, even Dumas itself. He was the perfect mate! Lucian grinned at the thoughts. Yes, Aaron will definitely be amazed by his fighting techniques.

"Hey, lovebird, your little boy is already up.", came Dumas' voice from the inside of the cottage. "We will be out in ten minutes."

"Alright.", answered Lucian, getting up. Nero jumped in the air and floated in front of his partner.

"Just be careful.", warned the Terrennial. "While you are distracted, some vampires will try to get their hands on Aaron."

"That's why I bring Dumas, too.", said the dhampir, jumping from the roof and landing on the ground like a cat. "He will watch over Aaron while I demonstrate myself to him."

Nero sighed. There he was with his arrogant self once more.

Aaron stepped outside the cottage, followed by Dumas, who once more wore his Casket Armor and cloak upon it. The boy had his Knight under Lucian's jacket, while the dhampir only wore the Casket Armor he always wore for years now. He led the way, jumping to the nearest tree and starting the hunt. Dumas walked from behind, following Lucian's trail and helping Aaron to see in the dark. Perrault and Nero were behind the boy to alert the vampires when an enemy was too close to the human.

They didn't walk that much when a young looking vampire came in sight. Dumas stopped and so did Aaron, hiding behind the horned one. The Terrennials stopped in mid air, too, watching the scene but concentrated in the surroundings too. Lucian jumped from the tree to the ground, growling to the welcomer who responded in the same way, cracking his fingers, ready to strike anytime. The dhampir crawled on the ground, grinning, knowing that that fight was already his. The vampire stroke first, rushing towards him. Lucian jumped to a side, kicking the creature's back and sending it rolling on the ground. The vampire stood up, coughing up because of the dusk. Not giving him time to move, Lucian roared and slashed him with his claws, leaving deep scratches on the enemy's body.

The young vampire whimpered in pain and blocked the next attack, jumping away from the fight. Lucian growled in frustration. That wasn't what he expected from him. He actually thought they were into a real fight, that they would break their bones to prove who was better, and now, the dhampir wanted to fight in real with the next vampire he would find.

Dumas laughed at Lucian's situation and followed him, Aaron right behind him just like both Terrennials.

The next walk was longer. They didn't find a vampire inside Lucian's territory, but they found one in the limits of it. That vampire was much older than the first one. He looked to have the same age of Dumas, was taller than him but not looking that strong. Lucian stopped, looking at his movements. The vampire noticed Lucian standing upon him, protecting the entrance of his territory, but the creature hissed softly and disappeared from sight. He didn't want to fight him. He knew he was going to lose so, before getting too wounded, he decided to leave for good.

Once outside the safety of the territory, more vampires were reaching Lucian to fight him to win the territory and have more chances to get a mate, but the dhampir wasn't going to let them win that easily. He proved himself to be a good candidate to Aaron to copulate with him in the next full moon, but Lucian wanted to demonstrate he was more than a very good potential mate. He also wanted let Aaron know how good was he seducing. After finding a nice place to rest, Dumas walked away from them not really wanting to see how the dhampir molested the young one. The Terrennials flew away too, but not too far just in case.

"So, are you enjoying the show by far?", asked Lucian sitting next to Aaron.

"Pretty much.", said the boy. "I'm really surprised to know that you are a lot stronger that I thought."

Lucian smiled.

"You just haven't seen anything yet.", assured the man with soft voice. He leaned towards Aaron, looking directly to his eyes. "I'm more aggressive than this."

The boy shuddered and the dhampir drown a moan in his throat. He wanted to make him shudder, but in a different way.

"I can't imagine how much more aggressive can you get.", admitted the young one. "Do you let your instincts control you?"

"More or less. I let my instincts control other things, too.", added while tracing Aaron's face with his fingers.

"Really? Like what?"

"Well...", Lucian lowered the tone of his voice, traveling on the soft skin of the boy's neck and then to his chest, feeling how his heart started to rise his beats at the single touch of the dhampir on it. "You know that I am not exactly a man of words...", the left unused hand lifted up and traveled on Aaron's left thigh. He heard him gasp at the sudden feeling. "And that I prefer actions over words.", his fingers reached Aaron's crotch area. The boy shuddered and gasped again, trying to close his legs but Lucian got in the way.

Aaron blushed deeply, letting soft moans escape his mouth, getting hard when the dhampir rubbed his groin through the fabric of his pants. Lucian reached Aaron's right ear and licked it, nibbling at the ear lobe, hearing more moans fill the air. The dhampir's lips met the boy's and they both shared a deep kiss in where they muffled their own moans in the other's mouth. Aaron's cheeks went redder when he felt Lucian's bare hand crept into his pants and underwear, reaching his hard member. The boy left the dhampir's lips to moan loudly when his partner started to masturbate him in slow pace. His body was getting hotter and the sweat was covering his heated skin at each erotic touch from the dhampir.

Lucian made Aaron lay on the ground and sat between his legs to have more place to work with his hands. He lifted the boy's shirt and found the already erected nipples tasty enough to lower his head and lick them. Aaron gasped, arching softly from the ground to get more of that sweet sensation that washed him over again. The feeling of the naughty teeth of Lucian on his nipples made him moan loudly, getting the attention of a vampire that was traveling not far from them.

The dhampir stood up, but not letting Aaron's body get uncovered. The poor frustrated boy rolled his head to the left and saw the lust in the vampire's eyes, knowing that he would fight against Lucian for the right to claim him as his next mate. Embarrassed at the situation, Aaron put his shirt back in place and crawled away from the dhampir, who looked directly to the vampire. The new vampire stood in place, watching Lucian's movements carefully, trying to find an opening to attack. He was amazed by the way he moved. So natural and elegant yet aggressive and deadly. The vampire adopted an offensive position, alerting Lucian that he was about to attack.

Both crashed when they attacked, groaning in pain but getting ready to strike again. The vampire gasped when he felt the shadow energy of Lucian grab his legs and send him flying through the trees, hitting them before rolling on the floor on a stop. The vampire hissed angrily, getting up and tackling the dhampir to the ground, punching him on the face, chest and stomach. Lucian coughed up blood but managed to get the vampire off his body, trying to recover from the recent hits. The vampire didn't let him that chance to recover and kicked him on the stomach, making the dhampir cough up more blood.

Lucian growled and took both of his legs, making the vampire lost his balance and fall on the ground. Once like this, the dhampir used his dark powers to strike the vampire with a black needle rain that pierced the vampire's body merciless, but he managed to arch forwards and hit Lucian on the head, making him go dizzy enough to get up, grab him by his waist and crash him on the ground with such force that made the ground crack. The dhampir moaned in pain but he couldn't let the vampire win. If not, he will have the right to take Aaron as his mate and he wasn't letting that happen. The young boy was his alone.

The vampire kicked him on the face once more and Lucian felt his surroundings spin in circles, not knowing that the enemy went directly to where Aaron was waiting. The boy, upon seeing the vampire approach, crawled away ready to take his gun out to defend himself. Now that the creature was closer, the boy could see that it was tall, thin, young looking with a messy black hair. He shivered in fear, not knowing what to expect from the vampire.

"Now that I look closer, you are really hot.", said the vampire grinning. "You will be a perfect mate with that energy of yours, so demanding, so attractive, so erotic.", he purred, licking his lips.

"Get the hell away from me!", yelled the boy, taking his gun out and shooting, but the vampire laughed as he dodged the solar bullet. "What?!"

"I'm used to them now. I fought against a lot of gunslinger before. I know how their guns work, and your weapon will never touch me."

Before the boy could stand up, he had the vampire all over him, strangling his waist with his legs and putting his arms down using only his hands. Aaron screamed when he felt the hot mouth of the vampire on his neck, putting hungry kisses on the soft skin. He squirmed and kicked, not going anywhere with it as the vampire wasn't affected by them.

"I don't want you! Get away!", screamed the young one again trying to avoid the vampire's lustful touches on his virgin body.

"You are in no position to ask for freedom. Your 'ex' partner lost to me, and now I have all my right to claim you.", he hissed in warning when Aaron screamed again. The boy shut up, trembling in fear. "That's good. You will be such a nice boy..."

The vampire gasped when he felt a strong grip on his head. Someone took him away from Aaron and crashed him on the ground, cracking it once more. The vampire looked up, shivering in fear when he saw the rage showed in both red eyes of the angry dhampir. Lucian kicked the vampire on the face, hard, and crushed him on the ground once more.

"I wasn't done with you.", Lucian said in a dry tone. He lifted the vampire up. "Never touch him again. The young one is completely mine."

"You are just a fucking half breed! You will never win to a real vampire like me!", shouted the creature jumping away from Lucian's grip. "Besides, the boy is still a virgin, how can be he yours when you haven't claimed him yet?"

The vampire blinked and Lucian was nowhere in sight anymore. He yelled in pain when a dark scythe cut his waist in half. The upper half fall on the ground, while his legs kept standing in place before Lucian came and slashed them up. Aaron recognized the scythe as the dark weapon called Hel, but this scythe was more devil looking, with streams of Dark Matter flying from it. It had a dense and dark aura around and the four blades were as red as blood, making it more fearsome. It looked like the scythe was alive with all the darkness that surrounding it, and Lucian knew how to control it pretty well.

"He was mine the first time I saw him, the first day we met.", answered the dhampir to the vampire's earlier question. "It doesn't matter if he is still a virgin, I claimed him in other ways even if I'm missing the physical one. But don't worry...", a huge grin came in sight. Lucian's fangs glowed in the moonlight and the vampire shivered. "I will copulate with him so no one ever touches him again, so no shit like you dares to put a finger on him never again."

The dhampir came to the fallen vampire and stepped on him. He took his right arm and put his left leg on the other and, using his inhuman strength, he ripped the vampire's arm out, hearing the yell of pain he made. What a wonderful sound! He needed more, more! Lucian licked his lips when the blood poured from the wounds. It was so shiny, so red. The smell was intoxicating, so seductive. It called him. Drink, drink! The dhampir breathed heavily, arguing with himself if he had to drink the pouring blood or rip the vampire's left arm. He decided to rip the other arm but moaned at the smell of the blood. He couldn't resist anymore! He needed to drink! He needed the blood!

Lucian moaned and lowered himself just enough to let the attractive smell penetrate his senses, making him feel light headed. He opened his mouth, he stuck his tongue out. He could imagine the sweet, intoxicating taste of the red elixir his body so much needed and craved. He was so close...

Dumas came and kicked him right on the face, preventing him to drink the contaminated blood. The idiot, said Dumas to himself. Lucian deserved to drink proper blood and not the blood of lesser vampires like the one on the floor, who was already dead from the blood lose. The former Duke ripped the vampire's heart out, watching as it went into dust like the rest of the dead body. He heard a soft whimper of pain and watched as Lucian stood up, rubbing his face.

"That fucking hurt!", yelled to Dumas. "Why you did that for?"

"Son of bitch.", whispered loud enough so the dhampir could hear. "You deserve to drink proper blood and not fall into the temptation of just common liquid like this.", explained the former Duke. "You always surrender at the first drop of blood. You sure are a whore."

"Shut the fuck up, asshole.", growled Lucian back, reaching the horned one. "I just lost my mind to it, what do you expected? I was so close... Damn it!", cursed the dhampir.

"That's why you have your little boy over there.", said Dumas with a naughty grin. Lucian looked at the solemn expression of Aaron and the boy's eye met his. The dhampir thought of how tasty would be Aaron's blood and shivered in excitement. "Just not rush things up. He will not let you become a full vampire and will do anything at his hand to prevent you to drink blood."

"You had to suggest that, didn't you? Now I really want to sink my fangs on his neck and drink his blood."

Dumas laughed, helping Aaron to his feet.

"So, did Lucian pass the test?", asked the vampire to the boy.

"Test?", Aaron blinked and looked at Lucian then, to the vampire again.

"Yes, test. Is he good enough to be your mate and let him copulate with you in the next full moon?", he grinned at the deep blush that covered the young's face. Tomorrow night will be the first night of full moon, so the boy had to decide now or Lucian might lose control over his instincts and end up raping Aaron, and Dumas didn't want that since it will break the two of them. "Well?"

Aaron smiled shyly but nodded. Lucian smiled like a fool and grabbed the young one on his arms, jumping from tree to tree, in their way back to the cottage. The Terrennials came seconds after they disappeared in the shadows.

"How it went?", asked Nero.

"Oh, the usual. Lucian lost it and he dismembered the enemy, proving himself to Aaron and the boy just accepted him.", answered, following the same path that Lucian took.

"That's good, so very good!", exclaimed Perrault, excited. "Master will have to leave or Lucian will kick his ass again."

"Oh, don't remind me.", said in sad voice the vampire. But she was right. The dhampir may take Dumas' presence as an invading of territory, specially now that he had Aaron's approval to copulate, and will probably end up fighting with him in order to protect the boy from his 'actions'. Dumas sighed. "Tomorrow is going to be a pain..."

"Don't remind me.", said Nero flying besides the former Duke. "Oh shit, Toasty.", exclaimed, remembering the light Terrennial.

"What with that sunflower?", asked Perrault.

"Oh fuck!", cursed the cat again. "Aaron hasn't come to the Inn since yesterday, and he may be worried about the boy. I'm positive that Toasty would think that Aaron went out to patrol, even if Ernest told him not to."

The vampire growled.

"The last thing I needed it's to see those assholes again!", he yelled, referring to Ernest and Kay. "But that's a minor problem. If the gunslinger comes up here, Lucian will not recognize them as Aaron's friends. He will go berserk and probably kill them all."

"We should tell him, either way.", said Nero. "Lucian will not let Aaron come out of his territory even during the day, so you or I will have to tell Toasty."

"Toasty is not going to like if I see and tell him 'Hey, your boy is up there with two horny vampires'. He will definitely fry me right there with his sunlight."

Perrault giggled and Nero laughed out loud.

"That would make my day.", said the dark Terrennial, making the vampire growl again. "I'm going to talk to him, then. Toasty will not panic that much if the one telling him this is me. Are you sure you are going to be alright tomorrow? You may surrender to your hormones too, when full moon comes out."

"I will try to control myself. Aaron isn't that attractive to me."

"Dumas."

"What? It's true! I'm no pedo like Lucian."

"Lucian is not a pedophile.", groaned the black cat.

"Right.", mumbled Perrault and her master laughed. Nero growled and disappeared in the shadows.


	3. Chapter 3

**Fixed some mistakes, Re-Upload.**

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3

Toasty returned to the Inn late that night, not knowing that Aaron had run off with Nero a few minutes before he arrived to the boy's room. The Terrennial dropped in the Guild to talk with the other Terrennials, planning to do something for Aaron and keep his mind out of Lucian. That afternoon they came with the idea to make him go to the ruins in the North, then, they would make the boy go to the Guild to stay there with Bea, Ernest and Kay. That will keep him occupied the entire day.

The Terrennial found it weird that the boy wasn't already there after his visit to Acuna's library. Perhaps he got really interested in a book and hasn't finished it yet, staying there until he read the last page of it. Toasty decided to wait up for him on the messy bed from early in the morning, but when hours passed and Aaron hadn't show up, Toasty begun to worry. Where was Aaron? Did he go to patrol, even if Ernest told him not to go? What if a vampire run into him and now the boy is several injured? Toasty floated in circles around the room, thinking where could be the heritage of Trinity. He flew outside the room from the window and went straight to Acuna's library, finding it closed. Maybe he just came out of the library and was his way to the Inn? Toasty though, flying in the usual path that Aaron takes when he goes from the library to the Inn. If the boy had taken it, then he will run into him, eventually. But he never did.

Already in the Inn, the sunflower asked the owner if the boy had returned.

"Yes, he did.", answered the man. "He was with a book from the library and went directly to his room."

"Did he come downstairs?"

"No, he hasn't showed in the bar since this afternoon."

"What time did he return?"

"Mm, about half past four in the afternoon, I think."

"Thank you."

Then, the boy had escaped! But, where? Where could Aaron go? Could have been to New Culiacan, to meet up with Ernest and the other gunslinger to patrol? The sunflower groaned. The kid was just too impatient in becoming as good as his father was. There was no choice but to show up there and look out for Ernest.

The Terrennial arrived to New Culiacan in a few minutes. The once city ruled by Dumas was now dull, empty and obscure. No humans lived anymore there but monsters had made it their new home, and now it was the work of the gunslinger to eradicate them all from the city and make it a good and nice place for humans to live again. But the city was big, and Toasty didn't know where to start looking so he went directly to the Dark Castle. The front doors were ripped apart and he spotted a lot of different kind of hounds sniffing the floor in look for food. He floated high enough so the dogs couldn't sniff him, see him or catch him, and went trough the lonely halls of the castle. All was destroyed, ripped apart. There were rooms missing entire walls or part of their ceiling, looking if as the structure would collapse anytime. Toasty made a mental note to look up for those and not find himself buried below a ceiling or a wall.

The more he looked around, the empty the castle looked. There were no sings of the gunslinger, and Toasty though that they might have ended the patrol time ago, but the moon was just rising into the night sky. Perhaps they haven't started the patrol yet and were in the Headquarters. The Terrennial flew from one of the windows and went in a straight line towards the Guild, not so far from New Culiacan. He made it just in time. Ernest was about to leave with a group of gunslinger. The man stopped when he saw the Terrennial come back a few hours after he left.

"Master Toasty, what's the matter? You look agitated.", said Ernest.

"It's Aaron. He went out to Acuna's library, came from it but he apparently escaped from his room, since the owner hadn't seen him downstairs after he returned.", explained the sunflower.

"Could be that he escaped to came with us and patrol?"

"That's what I wanted to ask you, but looks like he hasn't come here either."

"That's weird.", Ernest narrowed his eyebrows. "Besides, there aren't many places Aaron can go and like being there."

"Then, where?"

"And if he went to look up for Lucian?", came Kay's voice from behind. The canine-human creature came, putting both of his guns into the holders of them, one on each leg. "You said that if Aaron knew where was him, he would go to see him."

"Shit!", cursed the Terrennial. "I bet it was Nero who told him! I bet anything that that fucking cat told him!", Ernest was surprised to heard the sunflower curse like that. "I shouldn't have let Nero visit Aaron."

"No, you did well.", said Kay. "If the kid didn't have any news of Lucian, he would go and look for them by himself which it's more dangerous than letting Nero lead him to Lucian."

Toasty sighed heavily, still angry with the dark Terrennial.

"Where should we start looking?", asked instead of keep cursing the black cat.

Ernest shrugged.

"They can be anywhere, and I don't know what places Lucian likes to be alone.", he looked up to the moon. "Besides, the waxing gibbous phase will start in a few minutes. Vampires will be more aggressive than usual. I worry that he might run into one and end up wounded."

"I thought it too.", said Toasty. "I just came from the Dark Castle, but it seems as empty as ever."

"Even then, we should look there too.", suggested Kay, sending to one of his group to get Bea and talk with her about the situation. "They can hide in one of the chambers near the top."

Ernest sighed. The kid was just problems.

"I will go to New Culiacan with my group and search there.", he looked at the canine human. "You and your group will go to Thirteen Street, and Bea's to the Aqueduct."

"Understood. Come on guys, let's move!", he yelled to his group, walking away from the Headquarter.

Bea came moments after and Ernest told her about Aaron and his runaway. She called her group and went to the Aqueduct, while Ernest, Toasty and the rest went directly to New Culiacan. Once there, they divided in small groups and started searching the abandoned city.

Toasty remembered, four years ago, the problems that he and Aaron went through in the infested city. Lucian was always steps forward from the boy, and the poor kid had troubles keeping the dark swordsman's pace. The sunflower never liked Lucian, but the more Aaron and he spend time together, the more they were getting better. In the end, the light Terrennial noticed that, even if Lucian didn't show his feelings that much, he knew that the dhampir cared about the young boy. He demonstrated it when both of them fought against Polidori inside the Byron and outside the planet, in the space with the help of the Laplace. During the fight in outer space, Lucian wasn't that demonstrative towards the boy but, inside the Byron, he used all of his strength and agility to protect the young one from the Immortal's attacks, traps and tricks. It might take a little while to tell that the dark swordsman was too attached to Aaron back then. Now, it looked like without the boy the dhampir would inevitable die, or at last not survive.

After defeating Polidori's image at the Vambery Tower and knowing that Perrault had revived his master, Lucian started training hard the first three months, not caring about anyone around him. The notice of Dumas being alive once more made the dhampir built in rage. He was ready to strike him down when he disappeared besides his Terrennial. Toasty remembered that Lucian, once they both came back to the room they shared in the Inn, he went to Sheridan's mansion to know a way in where he could upgrade his weapons to their maximum level, bringing from them all the dark powers they held sealed inside. It took to the dark swordsman three months to control Vanargandr's full powers, five with Jormungandr and two with Hel. During the training, Aaron didn't stop visiting his partner, bringing him food, drinks and joyful company in the free times he used to rest from the training, and Lucian was more than pleased with the young's presence besides him.

It was during that time, where the effects of the eyepatch started to decrease. Since Lucian had to summon his vampiric powers in order to fully control the Dark Matter that filled each of his three weapons, he had to take his eyepatch off to let his vampire half flow freely in his body, to have enough space to infiltrate Lucian's being and start corrupting him from the inside out without him or anyone notice while he trained. They all knew that something was wrong with the dark swordsman when Lucian started having aching when staying outside under the sun, preferring to stay in the shadows to prevent his now sensible skin to burn. But he didn't pay attention to it, saying it was only because he trained for almost a year during night time and in time, his body will start getting used to sunlight again, but it never did.

Toasty also remembered how Aaron helped the dark swordsman in sickness. Lucian started to reject food very often, and he could only drink water based foods like soups, juice, tea, among other things. After a few weeks he would be completely healthy but a few months later, he would start to have the same symptoms. Toasty sat down to talk with him and Sheridan about that and the alchemist suggested that Lucian was finally transforming into a vampire, something that the dark swordsman didn't take well even less with a proper explanation before, and Sheridan said that those ten months without the eyepatch let the dark powers to start consuming his human body and change it to a vampire's body. With this, the sickness for food and the high sensibility he had walking under the Sun had their reasons, but Lucian didn't want to accept the news. He wasn't becoming his most hated thing.

After that, the dark swordsman was the arrogant bastard he always been but with Aaron was more gentle and caring, enjoying the boy's company anytime and rejecting the others, not wanting to even see them. Lucian was trying to find a way to tell Aaron his fate without the boy freaking out or hating him for the rest of his life for it. The almighty swordsman was afraid of losing, once more, an important person in his life and asked the help of Toasty several times, not knowing what to do or say when Aaron asked what he talked with Sheridan. Toasty haven't spoken with the boy neither unless Lucian wanted him to, but not even him was sure how Aaron would react at the news. Fearing that he would lose him, Lucian keep the secret from the boy like Toasty did, and lived as nothing had happened. Four years passed and now, the vampire powers were back again, claiming the still human body of Lucian.

"Mm? I notice you are worried, Ernest, and is not for Aaron, I assume.", he said interrupting his memories from the past.

"I fear of Lucian, too."

Toasty blinked.

"Why?", he didn't hide his surprise.

"He is a dhampir."

"Yes, and?"

"Some dhampires react towards moon's phase. It's rare for a half vampire be affected by them, but there have been cases like this, and I fear that Lucian's runoff was because he started to feel the reaction towards the current phase.", explained Ernset shooting against a hound that yelled in pain, before running off. "And is a bad time to start reacting to the moon, since we are at only two nights to vampire's mating cycle."

"I thought waxing gibbous only stated for one night."

"It will depend on the moon's position towards the Sun and our planet. Since this year it takes two nights, the mating cycle will least for about... three nights, I think."

"Wait, are you saying that Lucian is reacting towards this phases?", said the Terrennial in loud voice, just getting what the man said earlier.

"It's possible. He might have runaway because he didn't want anyone of us see him in that state, you know how proud is he, or didn't want anyone of us to be his next mate. Vampires can't control their instincts during these phases and will try to mate with the most attractive one.", Ernest stopped, sighing. "It's going to be dangerous for Aaron to stay out in the night, especially with no one to look after him."

"That's why we should find him before anything happens to him."

"What if...", started Ernest, not really listening to the Terrennial anymore. "What if Aaron found Lucian, and he is trying to get Aaron to be his next mate?"

"Oh fuck...", whispered Toasty at that. He didn't think of that. "And since Aaron has feelings towards Lucian and vice versa, he might get carried away and end up copulating with him on full moon."

Ernest sighed again.

"We will be screwed if Lucian finds us out in his territory looking for Aaron, you know."

"Doomed is the correct word for this, Ernest.", corrected the Terrennial not believing the situation that Aaron has put himself into without knowing, or perhaps he did. "Just a question; is there a book talking about vampire's behavior in Acuna's library?"

"Yes, there are several editions of a now dead author that was an expert in vampirism. If I remember correctly, he wrote a book about each moon phase and how vampires react towards them.", Ernest closed his mouth and looked at Toasty. "You don't think he found it, right?"

"It's the only way Aaron could find out about vampire's mating cycle. He might have done this on purpose to get that close to Lucian."

"Are you sure? I don't really think that Aaron could do that."

"That means you don't know him that well.", said Toasty, turning around and leaving Ernest's side. "Come on. New Culiacan would be the last place where Aaron and Lucian would come to hide."

The gunslinger man shook his head and followed the Terrennial.

"Then? What do you suggest?"

"Nero will tell us."

"How? He is with Lucian right now."

"I know that.", spat Toasty. "But he comes every day to tell Aaron how Lucian's doing. He will come to the Inn today or tomorrow without fail to tell us the news."

"So, we just wait for Nero to show up and tell us?"

"No, we will keep searching. If he comes before we find them, then I will interrogate Nero by myself."

Toasty kept floating away and Ernest feared that Aaron would never come back.

The next day the Terrennial stayed all day in Aaron's room at the Inn, accompanied by Kay, Bea and Ernest. He woke up early and wandered outside for a while before coming back around five in the afternoon to wait for Nero to come, but the cat never came and Toasty knew he wasn't coming when the clock's bells announced midnight. The gunslingers left the room, leaving Toasty by himself, thinking deep in thoughts. It was half past midnight, and Toasty laid on the pillow, looking at the ceiling.

The kid sure was full of surprises, but the Terrennial wanted Aaron to think before doing something. Going outside, in the middle of vampire's mating cycle, it was suicide, especially if he went to one of the most active areas, which were the mountains. The forest there is perfect, since vampires could go anywhere, fight anywhere without harming other creatures or future preys.

Then, it hit him.

Lucian was a dhampir and if Ernest was right, he was surely hiding somewhere he couldn't harm anyone, especially Aaron. But Acuna, the Thirteen Street or New Culiacan where places gunslinger patrolled to kill the monsters out there and might end up mistaken him as an enemy and end up killing him, so they were big no's to Lucian. Any other populated area was not in Lucian's list. What better place than the mountains? There, he was free do to whatever he wanted and act as he wanted, but there was also a high chance that Nero wouldn't be enough to stop him for copulating with a vampire or held down his dark powers. Lucian must have a companion that is not human or monster. That companion was a vampire, a vampire that knows how to control their own power and instincts. But the question now was, who? Who will accompany Lucian in this time of the month? Who will be friendly enough to help him out in this? All vampires he knew were dead and Lucian surely didn't know anyone besides the ones he fought four years ago. Sheridan wasn't even an option, since he disliked vampires and finding that Lucian was half one… No, definitely the old alchemist wasn't an option.

Who, who, who?

Toasty groaned. Who could be Lucian's companion? Even if Nero knew about vampires than anyone else, he didn't have enough powers to hold his partner down nor did he know how vampires used the Dark Matter or how their instincts worked. It must be a vampire! Toasty breathed out heavily and started floating in the room, going from here to there.

It was Rymer, then Virginia and Edgard, then Stoker, then Dumas… They fought them all, they beat them all. They fought Polidori, they beat Polidori. Polidori revived and hid in the Vambery Tower, along with the regenerated bodies of the once death vampires. In the floor sixty was Rymer, in the seventy the Poes, in the eighty was Stoker, in the ninety was Dumas and in the one hundred was Polidori. They beat them all, again, and reached the roof, finding…

"DUMAS!", screamed Toasty, stopping in mid air.

It must be him! He was the only one able to fully revive thanks to Perrault's help! He was the only living vampire that Lucian knew! But, he didn't think that the arrogant swordsman would step that low to actually ask for his once most hated enemy, wouldn't he? Toasty put himself into Lucian's place, trying to think as Lucian did. He was the dhampir now. The moon's phase was near; his dark powers reacted to it. His Terrennial was worried, so was he. They found out that the mountains where a nice place to stay so he wouldn't harm other humans, especially Aaron. Nero will suggest staying there for two weeks to see if the dark powers really reacted towards the moon, Lucian accepted.

Where could be the time he asked for Dumas help? Unless Dumas was already hiding in the mountains... That would explain how quickly Lucian left the Inn. But, would Dumas really help Lucian out? He wasn't the type of creature to think in others, he was a self centered bastard after all. How did his piece embed in this? There was no way that Dumas would end up helping him, unless Lucian gave him something in change. What? His three dark weapons? His blood? His body? What? Maybe Dumas wanted Perrault's missing half; perhaps he wanted Nero to fuse once more with his Terrennial. But Lucian would have rejected the deal; he wasn't going to give Nero just for the former Duke's help. Something didn't seem right. What was missing? Was he imagining things the wrong way?

Either way, Lucian must be in the mountains. Where? He didn't know. That night would be dangerous to go out, even for the gunslingers. Tomorrow daylight will be the perfect time to go. He could also ask for the other's Terrennials help to go out for Lucian and Aaron too, since if the boy found the dhampir he would stick with him all the week.

Then, something else came up. What if, after the eyepatch had lost his powers, Lucian's dark blood controlled him complete, transforming the dark swordsman into a full vampire? But in order for a human to change into a vampire, he must drink the blood of fresh human, of its first prey. But Aaron was with him! Lucian might lose control of his actions and end up drinking Aaron's blood! Toasty panicked. No, no. Aaron would not let Lucian drink his blood even if was the last thing he did. He wasn't letting his partner change into a complete vampire, was he? Toasty wanted to go out right now to find Aaron and keep him away from Lucian, at last until the mating cycle ended. It was going to be too dangerous, he told himself. Even if he cared about the boy, he feared of the aggressive vampires out there. Besides, his night sight was horrible and would end up fighting a tree, thinking it was an enemy. Well, not like that since the moon's light would help him to find a trace, but it was something close to a possible way for him to end up.

Alexander was an owl, and his most active time was during the night. Perhaps asking for his help wasn't that much. The Terrennial was also attached to the young boy and might offer his help. Toasty nodded to himself and flew outside, shivering in cold for the wind that just blew. He floated directly to the Vambery, Alexander's favorite place to go since it was very high and he could sit and watch everything under him. Toasty found the purple and yellow owl sitting on the roof, with his wings folded against its body to keep himself warm in that cold night. He looked up, blinking in confusion upon the sight of the light Terrennial.

"Toasty, what brings you here this late at night?", asked the owl worried.

"Oh, a lot of things. But, could you do me a favor?"

Alexander narrowed his eyes, more confused.

"Sure, what is it?"

"I need you to go and look for Aaron in the mountains."

"What could be doing the young one up there?", said the wind Terrennial amused, but also worried knowing that that was the place of reunion for vampires in heat.

"He went to look for Lucian."

"Excuse me?"

"What you heard. Come on, I need you to move quickly. Aaron can be anywhere in the mountains, and my sight is not exactly the best in the night.", explained Toasty, getting irritated.

"Is because of the swordsman's runaway?", the sunflower nodded. "Alright, I thought it was because you and he fought."

"If it was a fight between him and me you wouldn't do it?", Alexander shook his head. "Why?"

"Because there was a high chance it was your fault. Sometimes you can be too harsh with the boy without noticing.", the owl stood up, walking to the edge of the roof. "Besides, I wouldn't worry too much about Aaron. If he went looking up for Lucian, the dhampir would have already found him or at last Nero."

"I want to bring him back because he could die out there!", yelled in frustration Toasty.

"See? You are harsh with him. You want to protect him too much you end up hurting him! Aaron is more capable of things then you think. He can take care of himself up there.", said before leaving. Alexander opened his wings and let himself fall and took flight from the fall, letting the wind pick him up. He flapped a few times, disappearing in the horizon.

Toasty stood there, watching as Alexander flew away. Was he hard with Aaron? He didn't know, since he thought what was doing it was right. Perhaps he acted the wrong way during those four years. He remembered not letting Aaron go to Lucian's training place alone, saying it was too dangerous for him. And when the boy returned with scratches or wounds he would reprimand him for being careless. Those arguing would end up in nasty fights between them, and in Aaron not wanting to return to the Inn or wanting to see Toasty in a few weeks after the incident. Maybe he really was being too overprotective with Aaron after all. What would Trinity do about it? Would he snap at the boy too, or would be flexible in their relationship? Toasty knew there was a high chance of Trinity to be flexible since it was Lucian what we are talking about. He would not let anything happen to his son or Lucian either. If that so then, why he wasn't nice with Aaron and helped him in it?

He needed to talk to someone. He wanted to talk to Trinity again.

"Fuck! Why did you have to die?!", cried the sunflower in the silent of the night, no one out there to hear him. "Fuck... ", he sniffed. "Why did you have to die, Trinity?", he let the soft tears run his face and drop on his little leaves and on the floor.

He missed him so much. Toasty was too attached to him and when he watched him die, he broke completely. His best friend just died before his eyes! And he couldn't do anything to save him, because he gave his life to save Sartana. To him, to no one else, to Sartana. Toasty remembered how injured the purple haired gunslinger was. Death was almost there, was just knocking his door, to claim his soul and bring him to the other side, but Trinity stopped Death to come. He offered Death a deal. He would give his life in order to save his friend's one, and Death accepted. A soul was a soul, after all, and Death would care less about it. How Nero slipped from Perrault was still a mystery than even he couldn't answer, but thanks to him and Trinity, Sartana survived.

Toasty remembered the moments Sartana awoke as a half vampire. He didn't know where he was, he didn't remember himself. He only knew he was in absolute pain, and could smell the scent of blood and war all over the place. Toasty didn't pay attention to him; he was crying Trinity's dead over his body, which laid down on the mud, lifeless. That night was as cloudy as ever and in the silent of it, the cry of glorious victory from Dumas echoed in the city.

"Trinity?", said Sartana with rough voice. His right eye was now bright red, his skin lost color, looking paler than usual. Sartana could also notice how his sight, smell and hearing improved. Things he couldn't hear when he was human, but he didn't care in those moments. "Trinity....", repeated the fallen gunslinger crawling to his dead friend. "Fuck, no...", he cursed.

"Yes, he is dead.", said Toasty in a whisper. "All because of you.", the sunflower looked up to him, with tears running down his face. "All because of you."

In those instants, he knew that Trinity gave his life to save him.

"Shit... that imbecile, always doing things without thinking.", talked Sartana back, gasping for air. His lungs cried in pain with each word and sentence he created. It will take a while to heal him up.

"You don't think twice if you have to save a close friend.", said a new voice from the shadows.

Toasty looked as the silhouette of a black cat formed between him and Sartana, now feeling better and sitting on the mud. He was small, with two little red wings from his back. He had a x shaped scar on his forehead and his tail tip was fussy and white. His big, bright red eyes looked at Sartana and then, to Toasty.

"He made a deal with Death, and he gave his life to save your own", explained the black cat. Sartana griped his fists, closed his eyes and started to cry in silence. "I'm sorry for the lost of your friend."

"You shouldn't talk about Trinity like that, slave of vampires.", spat Toasty, narrowing his eyes. The black cat looked offended.

"No, I am not. You are wrong."

"Then why the hell you made Sartana share your dark powers? Why you make him a half vampire now?!"

The fallen gunslinger didn't understand. A dhampir? It must be a joke.

"What?", managed to say Sartana, coughing up blood.

"He was a half of Perrault, the Duke's Terrennial, and the only way to keep you alive was sharing his own life with yours, thus, sharing his dark powers too.", said Toasty looking at Sartana's red eye. "Look on your Bomber.", suggested the sunflower at seeing the gunslinger expression.

Sartana grabbed his gun and looked on the clean and shiny metal, gasping when he saw the red eye glowing in the dark. It wasn't happening! It must be a nightmare, a bad dream! He wasn't going to become a vampire!

"Bullshit!", he cried looking at the black cat. "I don't give a fuck who you are, but remove this from me now!! I'm not letting you do whatever you please with my body!"

"I can't.", answered the cat. "If I do, you will die and that's not what Trinity wanted."

"I don't care! I rather be dead than transforming in something I hate!"

"And you will make Trinity's death in vain!!", shouted Toasty back. "Are you letting his death be that insignificant? That... unworthy? He fucking saved your poor ass, asshole! Be grateful!"

Sartana was going to reply, but he noticed how right the sunflower was. Yes, he was too damn right.

"Fuck...", he cursed again, putting his hands on his face. "I can't face the others like this."

"Do what you want, I just don't want to see you again.", said Toasty.

Sartana snorted and stood up, feeling more and healthier than ever.

"That shouldn't be a surprise. After all, you never liked me."

"And never will. So, hurry up and disappear from my sight unless you want me to kick your ass.", said the sunflower in a harsh tone, not caring to look at him. He only cared for the dead body of Trinity lying in front of him.

The black cat jumped in the air and flapped his wings, floating near Sartana's head.

"Where should be going?", asked the once strongest gunslinger.

"First we have to find an amulet to stop the transformation.", explained the Terrennial. "It will be helpful for you to control your dark powers."

Sartana looked back, one last time to Trinity.

"I'm coming for his funeral, regardless what you want.", he told Toasty, even if the light Terrennial wasn't listening to him. He turned to the black cat and started walking away. "Tell the others that... I have been taken by Dumas."

"Alright.", answered Toasty.

"What's your name, cat?", said the man to his new companion.

"I'm called Nero, since I'm all black.", he sat on Sartana's shoulder and smiled when he let him do it. "And you?"

Sartana thought it for a moment. He didn't want to be recognized as the most famous gunslinger than now was a half vampire freak, nor start fake rumors inside the Guild. It would bring problems to Ernest and the others, and he didn't want that. But even like that, he was going to bring light to the world once more, to let the sun shine once more in that endless night that just started.

"I'm Lucian.", he answered. Nero lifted his ears and head.

"Light? Why would you be called light?", asked the curious cat.

"Because I'm going to, not only get my revenge on that damned Duke, but also I will bring the light to this world once more, all by myself.", he looked at Nero and smiled. "Will you help me?"

"Of course!", said the cat excited at his new partner. He knew they will become close friends in the end, despite of Lucian's appearance.

Toasty opened his eyes and, instead having Trinity's body before him, he saw the emptiness of the Vambery Tower. So lonely, so quiet, so full of nothing. He sighed. Sartana didn't have the fault that Trinity died. The man just saved his closest friend from Death's claws and the Terrennial just blame his lost into Sartana, since he never liked him. Before becoming a dhampir, he always had pale skin and his eyes; that beautiful brown, shining in red when the Sun decided to light him up, looking as a real vampire of sorts and Toasty was afraid of it. And when he and Sartana crossed paths again because of Aaron, he didn't know how to react, so he acted as he never saw him before and Lucian did the same, but both of them could sense the intense atmosphere in them, especially when Lucian spent time alone with Aaron. Toasty never liked that.

But now... Now it was so different from before. Now, he admitted that Lucian was more than meet the eye, even back then, when he joined the Guild for the first time and quickly made friends with Trinity. He noticed how jealous was from the old Sartana and the new Lucian, jealous of the good relationship Trinity and Sartana had, and the good relationship Aaron and Lucian have. What a fate... Toasty snorted at how things ended up.


	4. Chapter 4

**(Fixed some mistakes, Re-Upload.)**

**WARNING: Smex in the chapter. ****DumasxOC. **

* * *

4

Aaron was already up. Dumas and Lucian were still sleeping soundless, one on the couch, the other on the bed. The boy awoke at a quarter to seven in the afternoon and Perrault was up too, keeping him company until the others decided to leave the land of dreams. It was going to be a beautiful night without clouds, or cold wind blowing in the forest. The moon will be a perfect, white circle on the dark sky that night and with it, it will bring the most aggressive nights on the month. Aaron feared that Lucian and Dumas ended up fighting because of the high amounts of hormones and sexual frustration they will have. And it brought a doubt to the young boy. He looked at Perrault that was licking her paws and cleaning behind her ears, both sitting on the table, and asked:

"Did Dumas have a girlfriend?"

Perrault bit her paw in accident. She yelled for the pain, but Dumas only stirred, rolled and kept sleeping.

"Well, yes, he did, but not exactly a girlfriend.", the cat answered. She blushed when Aaron massaged her wounded paw. The boy could be cute when he wanted to.

"Then it was a man, right?"

"Certainly."

"Who?"

The Terrnnial waved her tail back and forth.

"It's hard to explain, and it will be hard for you, too.", Aaron opened his eyes widely. How he could be in it too? It was Dumas' private life, after all. Perrault sighted. "It was... one of the vampires you and Lucian fought four years ago."

Aaron giggled.

"I don't think Dumas picked Stoker.", Perrault couldn't help herself and ended up laughing out loud. Dumas and Stoker would do such a strange pair, she told herself. "That vampire sure was... ugly and fat."

"And had a bad sense of humor and his real love was alchemy.", said the cat. "No, it wasn't him, neither Edgard. That one was too young for him."

Aaron gasped.

"Wait, Rymer? The Margrave?", Perrault nodded. "Oh... I...."

"Don't worry."

"Yes, I should! Lucian doesn't know about it!", he whispered.

"He doesn't have to know either. It will bring painful memories to Dumas.", Perrault took her paw away from Aaron's soft hands. The boy narrowed his eyes.

"Even like that, he helped Lucian. Why would he do something like that after he killed his lover?"

"Because he changed a lot in four years, more than you think. One of the things he learned was to forgive.", said the cat sitting comfortable on the table. The Sun was hiding behind the mountains and shadows were consuming the forest at quick speed. "He apologized to me in the first place for acting the way he did and, surprisingly, he forgave Lucian for killing Rymer."

"Why? If I were Lucian, I would seek revenge. My father was a thing, but killing the person that will walk side by side along your life is something else. It's more important."

"Because he felt what Lucian felt when he lost Ella, his most precious person on the world.", answered Perrault and Aaron understood. Dumas was the first in taking from Lucian that person and then, Lucian took revenge without knowing. "After feeling what he felt.... well...", she sighted. "He was devastated. He cried every night for his lost, not caring if the others watching him do so. He was too sad about Rymer.", she looked back and Aaron followed her sight, spotting a dark purple cape folded on a little table at the end of the couch. "That's Rymer's cloak.", explained the cat. "Dumas always keeps it with him, since it has the vampire's scent still. It makes my master remember the happy times they spent together before Lucian killed the Margrave."

"These nights will make him even sadder, right?", Perrault nodded. "I'm so sorry..."

"It wasn't your fault or Lucian's. He was only eliminating the obstacles between him and Dumas, and Rymer was one of them."

"No wonder why it took a lot of time to... eradicate him.", said Aaron. "He told me that from all, Rymer was the most difficult one. I bet he didn't want Lucian to get close to Dumas."

"He was a jealous and possessive man.", remembered Perrault. "He used to take Dumas outside the castle, far away from Polidori's hands and the other vampires, to talk and do their stuff.", Aaron giggled. "Rymer often took Dumas to his mansion and hunt for humans, something master enjoyed doing, and have him all by himself, not that Dumas complained about."

"What do I complain about?", asked the sleepy voice of the former Duke. Aaron and Perrault jumped in surprise.

"I... asked about your... boyfriend and she just told me how you enjoyed going to his mansion and...", he looked the sad expression Dumas did. "I'm so sorry."

Dumas sighed.

"It was fate, I always end up losing things I treasure the most.", he said sitting up on the couch. "Even then, I still miss him. Did you know it was the first vampire that Lucian fought?", Aaron nodded. "I bet Rymer gave him a hell of time back then. He was a very strong opponent regardless of his appearance.", he turned his head and watched the cloak, smiling and petting it. "I liked his cape and always ended up borrowing it for myself, liking to cover my body with it.", he stood up and petted Aaron's head, to his and Perrault's surprise. "Enjoy your time with Lucian as long as you can, you never know when life will rip him apart from your side."

Aaron was about to respond when they heard a loud growl coming from Lucian's room. The dhampir was standing right there, his eyes glowing in bright red. His claws twitched in anger.

"Take your hands off of him.", spat the dhampir in low voice. Aaron and Perrault shivered, but Dumas did so. The sad expression on his face not leaving, but then, as he turned around again, he had his normal self again, as nothing had happened. Aaron thought how much he still missed Rymer's death and how much he had cried still for him.

"What? Already starting with the mating? Such naughty boy you are, Lucian.", said the former Duke, flopping on the couch once more. "The moon hasn't risen yet, you shouldn't be getting affected. Maybe you are just being... possessive, perhaps?", Lucian hissed. "Oh, I'm sorry! Did I make you angry? My bad."

"Dumas...", whispered Aaron. Dumas seemed to pick up a fight in the most disadvantaged moments of the day. The Duke noticed the boy's fear and decided to end the conversation with a snort. "Thank you."

"I just stopped because of you.", he said, standing up and walking of the cottage. Perrault followed. "No, you stay here. Watch over them."

"But..."

"Do it."

"Yes master.", Dumas looked up her and Perrault knew she did a mistake. "I'm sorry. Yes, Dumas.", the former Duke smiled and petted her head in good bye before leaving.

Once outside, the vampire could hear Aaron's reprimand towards Lucian and how the dhampir replied back, saying he didn't care. Dumas closed his eyes for a moment. He didn't care back then, too.

The forest, dyed in orange, was getting filled with the vampires seeking out for mate or for the ones that already did and were looking for a nice place to copulate. The vampire remembered nights like that, spent together in the warm of Rymer's arms around him, protecting him from others and making him feel secure, even if he was the most powerful vampire from the world. It felt nice to have someone that close to him, to protect him, to look over him. On night like this, he was the only one that could see Rymer's soft side. The moon would bring to the surface the sensitive spot in the fire vampire, a side it was reserved for Dumas only. He seemed to be a lot more caring, he loved to curl up with Dumas on bed or on the couch, even on the floor. He didn't care as long he had his arms around a part of the Duke's body. Rymer also loved to snuggle and nuzzle Dumas', since he loved his scent, spend all those nights with him, made love to him until their bodies screamed exhausted and then, just rest on bed (or wherever they made love that moment). One of the things Rymer enjoyed the most was Dumas' eyes when they opened after the lovemaking. He spent a lot of time watching them, in that tired but blissful state, shining in the dark like two precious rubies. Rymer couldn't get enough of those eyes.

Dumas never got tired of watching Rymer's eyes either, or watching him at all. He enjoyed too much his company and sighed a lot of times when they had to split over; Rymer staying in his mansion and he returning to the lonely and empty castle he ruled. He couldn't wait for the next time he was going to see him, wanting to kiss those spicy lips of his lover and feel that rough skin under his fingers. They were too attached to the other...

That day, he was in a happy mood. He was going to see Rymer after a long time being outside the castle, doing experiments in the Vambery besides Stoker and Polidori. Dumas was tired of them, knowing that they will not work if they didn't have someone who controlled the sun's powers like the gunslinger. He suggested that Virginia and Edgard captured a few to test the machine, and Polidori accepted. Before leaving, Dumas made Perrault tell the sibling bout the plan and he went to the castle, to prepare himself before Rymer's visit. He was too happy. Nothing could go wrong that day, nothing.

Dumas was about to leave his room when Perrault rushed into him, saying she needed to tell something urgent, that concerned Rymer. The Duke stood, waiting for her answer and when she, sobbing and trembling, said that the Margrave was dead, Dumas lowered his head and returned to his room, closing the door behind him, listening to his Terrennial's sobbing. She cared and liked Rymer, since he was the one that brought happiness to her master and was as sad as Dumas, but the vampire was devastated. Perrault could never understand the feeling of losing someone that close to you. He got away from the door after staying there for a few minutes and opened the door, seeing that Perrault was still there, still sobbing, still tearing Rymer's death.

"Come.", he said to his Terrennial and Perrault curled on his chest, crying and screaming in anger. "Let's go to the mansion."

"B-but....!"

Dumas hushed her up softly, putting a finger on her lips.

"Let's go to the mansion. He is waiting us there."

The vampire walked away from his room, went downstairs and ignored Polidori's calls. He and Perrault had something more important to do than knowing that Stoker's plan was a success.

New Culiacan was empty as always. The monsters were walking around, looking for intruders and leaving alone the class A habitants, those wearing the tight, black collars around their neck. Those were reserved to be Dumas' next food, and no one could touch them unless he said otherwise. He walked down the streets towards the door that separated New Culiacan from the rest of the infested cities. The heavy metal door opened at his command, and stepped outside the city. Once there, he traced with Perrault and both of them flew at high speed towards the mansion, seeing a Hunting armored plane going outside the atmosphere of the planet.

They landed on the backyard, Untracing. Rymer's scent was all over and Dumas was about to cry when he noticed a second smell, a very well known and familiar smell. It was a scent that belonged to a gunslinger he killed seven years ago, when he was still a Count and was fighting against Ratatosk to get the title of the most powerful vampire from all. Who was the gunslinger? It couldn't be Trinity. Dumas knew he was dead for sure. Who else accompanied Trinity besides that dog boy and the tanned skin man?

He feasted his fists and gripped his teeth. His tears were running down his cheeks, but he showed rage on his face rather sadness. He did, however, felt that emotion but deep inside him. Dumas was broke with Rymer's death but the scent told him who was the one that killed him. The one that was once dead, and revived thanks to Perrault's half, who shivered in fear at the streams of darkness Dumas was liberating from his body.

"I'm so going to kill Sartana for this.", he growled in rage. His palms were cut by his long and sharp nails, and blood poured from the wounds, dropping the red liquid to the ground. "I will tear him up and drink the very last of his impure blood. I will make him scream like a pig.", Dumas growled again. "Perrault, go with Schröndinger and bring that fucking Laplace down."

"Yes, master.", she said, disappearing from sight.

Sartana will have his payback for that. But for now, Dumas tried to calm himself down by walking inside the mansion to bring to the castle something from Rymer and held him close like he did in his arms every night. After looking around, he found his cape on the messy bed and took it, sniffing his scent. The sadness could more than the rage and he fell to his knees, crying out loud for the dead of his lover, wetting the soft sheets of the bed. It took him at last two hours to calm down. His eyes were irritated from all the water that poured from them, he felt tired and lonely. He wanted to sleep.

Dumas stood up and let himself flop down on the bed, curling up and hugging Rymer's cloak. He could almost feel his hands petting his always wild hair, or his face, flicking his nose in a tender way before kissing it softly and murmur how much he loved him. Dumas broke into sobs again, hiding his face in the pillows, muffling his crying.

"I will always love you, Rymer...", he whispered into the pillows, smelling his scent. It was too much for him now. He remembered how he lost his closest vampire friends in the hands of the gunslinger and now this. It was like curse on him that every precious person close to him ended up dying in a way or another. "I love you, I love you so much...."

Near midnight, he was able to return to the castle, holding the cape on his arms. His eyes were still irritated but he didn't care at all. He had his usual bastard expression on him. He knew that Perrault would have troubles with the Laplace and even not being able to bring Sartana down, it wasn't her fault after all, but he would be so happy if she did... Even today, he wasn't able to bring Sartana down. All his efforts were useless. Dumas sighted and stopped when he saw a vampire standing not so far from him. He didn't look as he wanted to fight but rather as he wanted to flirt, and the former Duke wasn't in the mood for it right now. Sure, he enjoyed flirting with others but the memories were too painful to bear.

"Hey...", said the vampire, now closer to Dumas. He looked up to him and couldn't say he wasn't handsome. The vampire was tall, thin and muscled. He had an attractive, young face and hair pulled up in a pony tail, his white hair shining under the moonlight. "Feeling lonely, aren't we?", Dumas had to bit down his tongue to prevent saying he was too hot for his own good. Damn hormones!

"Fuck off, I'm not in the mood to flirt.", he exclaimed, surprising the other vampire. He was sure the other was ready for a mate and was attracted by his scent and erotic energy, and couldn't understand his reaction towards him. "What?", said Dumas not knowing why the other vampire was still standing there.

"I'm really surprised by your answer.", admitted but moved closer, to Dumas' despite. "Why such cutie would have such dirty mouth, hm? Unless you are dirtier in more things than your mouth..."

Unable to help himself, the former Duke blushed. He hadn't blushed in so long that it felt awkward. He turned around, showing his back to the albino vampire.

"Like I told you earlier, I'm not in the mood to flirt."

"Mm, but you liked what I said, didn't you?", the seducing voice of the vampire almost made Dumas melt. It seemed so familiar to Rymer's tone when he wanted to bring the former Duke into bed. He was so easily seduced that couldn't say 'no' to Rymer's petitions, and perhaps to the vampire that now was trying to bring him to bed too. He could feel the cold, slim fingers of the stalker on his neck. Dumas couldn't restrain the moan that escaped his throat. It was the fist time that someone touched him that way, in that lustful way. His body forgot how good it felt. "You seem... pretty hot...", the husky voice of the vampire reached the former Duke's ears and he shuddered when the fingers of the other hand rubbed his left leg. "Isn't there something you would like to do right now, to get hotter than already you are?"

Oh, it was a sweet temptation that Dumas wanted to resist. But the naughty fingers slipped under his robes and were reaching his crotch area, bringing gosebumps into Dumas' back. He was blushing deeply like a tomato and only for a few touches. How needed was he? Were his hormones that desperate for intimate touch? The sudden hard he got answered his questions.

"I'm not looking for a new mate.", he said to the other. "So don't expect me to bond with you."

"Don't worry, neither I am.", the albino vampire answered. "I just enjoy this phase because I can get laid as many times as I want."

Dumas laughed and spun, holding the vampire's neck with his arms. He kissed him with hunger and pushed him to the nearest tree. Both of them drop to the ground, already turned on by the simple touches on each other's bodies. The moon did his part really well, Dumas though as he ripped the vampire's shirt with his claws. His nipples were already hard and that made the former Duke went directly to them, playing with the soft skin with his long fangs, enjoying the loud moans his partner made. Dumas was slowly remembering the sensations that brings sleeping with other, in this case, but also the warmness he felt when doing it with Rymer. On the back of his mind, he felt like he was betraying him, but since he was in a new part of his life, he needed that lustful feeling in him again. It's something that his vampire nature couldn't suppress even with the lost of his lover. He had to move on.

The albino vampire grinned as he torn apart Dumas robes, groaning when he saw the Casket Armor beneath it. He was going to have a hard time taking it off, but he got surprised again when his partner took it easily off, wasting no time. The vampire though that if he had to take it out, he would have wasted a lot of time with those plates and protectors. He thought that it was an useless equip but he had to admit it worked against the deathly gunslinger. He purred at the sight of the nude torso of Dumas and launched to it, kissing, nibbling and biting the heated skin, making the owner of it shudder and moan at those light touches.

It was bliss. The light touches made the former Duke gasp and arch his back. He had forgotten how good it felt. The albino vampire slipped the cloth that protected his sensitive skin from the armor and left him nude asides the vampire's arms that were circling around his waist, keeping him in place on his lap. Dumas also helped his partner in getting rid of the pants, socks and shoes.

"Oh fuck...", cursed the former Duke when the hands of his partner rubbed the insides of his legs. "I'm so needed that I can't wait!", the other laughed, biting down on one of the nipples.

"Then let me get rid of that need with all I have."

The vampire made Dumas arch on him and softly licked the erect member of him, making Dumas gasp and shudder at the sensation. The albino nibbled his stomach, traveling lower with soft kisses and bites, taking care of the base and then going up to the tip, licking it slowly, enjoying it. His sensitive ears caught up every small noise that Dumas made, getting as hard as his partner was. And just because of the sweet noises he was doing! He couldn't believe that Dumas wasn't looking out for a mate. He would be so happy with him by his side. But if the former Duke didn't want a mate, he wasn't going to force him to be one.

Without waiting, he took Dumas' member into his mouth, sucking gently and nibbling the tip with his tongue, running his teeth on it, feeling how Dumas shuddered at the feeling and how his throat made those deep moans that filled the silent of the night. While sucking his staff, the vampire also licked his fingers, coating them with high amounts of saliva. These fingers would travel and then slip inside Dumas, making him tense up before relaxing. After he cummed, if the vampire made him cum, he could use his semen as a lubricate and slip in easily, but for now saliva it was. The naughty fingers stretched him up, rubbing his inner walls and finding his asleep prostate, making him jump in surprise when the vampire found it, and moaning at the electrical sensation it bring after that. It was all well known but so new after so much time without that touch. He almost felt like a virgin in his first time.

The vampire made him cum into his mouth, and the former Duke bit his bottom lip, pulling the hair of his partner. It felt too good, too damn good. The vampire lifted his head, grinning with white trails of semen running down his chin. He licked his lips.

"You taste wonderful.", he whispered and made Dumas sit on his fully erected member. The former Duke shivered when he felt it inside him. "Mm, pretty tight."

"Ooh... That's because I haven't sleep with anyone in four years....", he shivered when the vampire moved outside and in again. "And I almost forgot how good this was!"

The vampire laughed and keep moving, enjoying the tightness of Dumas around him. The more he looked at him, the more he liked him. Contrary to himself, the vampire thought it found his perfect mate. He was just going out for a simple laid and instead he found that attractive, horned vampire walking with his sad smile in the forest. When he saw him he though what could bring him down like that, since it was a time in where vampires were too busy in their hormones to think in anything else. Seemed that Dumas was an exception.

He found the former's Duke lips on his mouth, claiming a fierily kiss, battling with their tongues, moaning in each other's cavities. The vampire speeded up, Dumas kept moaning, feeling himself getting closer and closer to his climax. He wanted to feel again the blissfulness of the orgasm, of the climax, of when the pleasure was too much for him to bear. He scratched the vampire's chest, hearing him groan but not really caring, and parted from his lips, hiding his face on his neck. His hands slipped to his back and his claws scratched the soft skin under them, making it bleed.

Dumas clenched his teeth, closed his eyes tightly. He moaned once more. He was too close now, too close that he almost touched it. His face was so red it seemed to explode anytime.

"Oh hell, yes!", he whispered, scratching the tree behind the vampire, who cummed inside the former Duke while he poured his semen into his and the vampire's torso.

"Damn...", the other mumbled. The albino moaned in satisfaction. That was a good laid, he must admit. He grinned as he rubbed Dumas' back, hearing his heavy and quick pants. "Did I get rid of your needs now?"

The former Duke snickered. His true, lustful self showed up with that first copulating and he wasn't going to let the vampire get away with only that. He wanted more and he was going to have it even if he had to rape the vampire that invited him to do so. His lust was awake once more and his mind was blinded by it.

"Oh no, not yet.", he answered, licking his lips. "I'm a man of strong appetite, and it seems I need more than this."

"I don't mind staying up all night and fucking you like this.", said the vampire too interested in that new face of his partner. "I would love to, in fact."

Dumas purred and laid on the ground, arching from it and moaning, imagining the feeling on him once more. That got the other on his body a second time, and was already biting his neck and finding sensitive places that made Dumas moan even more. With his inhuman strength, he made his partner roll on the ground, now him being on the albino vampire. He traveled down his torso, ignoring the hard nipples on his way, and ended up taking the still erected member of the vampire, taking it with his mouth and sucking gently but quickly, nibbling the tip and running his teeth like the vampire did with his own. He heard him gasp and moan loudly, arching from the ground to met Dumas' hot mouth and get more of that sweet feeling. The albino bit his finger to muffle his moan when he came into the other's mouth, relaxing for a few seconds before tensing again. He felt Dumas' fingers in him, coated with his own semen, stretching up his inner walls like he did with him.

Dumas didn't waste too much time in the lubricating so, as the vampire seemed ready, he lifted his legs and penetrated him with force, hearing him moan in pleasure. The former Duke shuddered at the feeling of tightness around his member. He had to admit it felt terrible good. He remembered, in the moments his mind wasn't that busy in fucking the other, how Rymer would let him take him as he wanted. He remembered Rymer's tightness and that made him thrust down hard on the albino, who gripped his teeth, drooling at the burning sensation that rushed on all his body. He swore he hadn't such laid in such long, but very long time.

The albino arched from the ground when he felt the tip rub against his prostate, electing a high tone that muffled with Dumas' lips on his own. The ecstasy was near an end, and both of them knew. The albino tightened around the former Duke and he gasped at the sudden sensation, thrusting back too hard for his own good, increasing his speeds of thrusting and wanting to empty himself into that hot cavern.

"AH!", gasped the vampire, scratching Dumas back with his claws. His cum poured from his still erected member and split on his torso, while the former's Duke ones filled his insides. "Aah... ah shit...", he had the sudden urge to bond with Dumas, but this wasn't really thinking in bonding with him. The albino wasn't his type at all.

"Still want more? Because I'm just warming up.", he grinned, licking the cum from the albino's torso and swallowing it.

The albino returned the smirk and nodded.

It was near five in the morning when Dumas returned to the cottage. The clear of the day was showing up, saying to all night creatures that the burning Sun was getting close to his rise and they should go and look for a refuge. The former Duke didn't pay attention to it, but rather how tired his body felt. He hadn't had such passionate sex after Rymer died, and he felt so good after that. The scent of sex was all over him and he could smell it. It was a really good idea to take a walk and just 'look around'.

He put only the protecting, thin black cloth that always wore under the casket armor, up to his waist, and his boots, having on his arms the rest of the armor and his robe. His torso was full with lovebites, hickeys and scratches and his back wasn't that worst, but it was still bleeding from the lustful actions of the young albino, which name was Nish. Dumas rejected telling his real name and only told him he was 'Earl'. That amused Nish but didn't objected about it, simple waving a good bye and disappearing in the shadows to return to his place of sleep and rest for the day, hoping to see him the next night of full moon.

Perraul was out, with Nero resting on her side, apparently waiting for him. The cat smiled at the sight of her master and hugged him, happy to see him back once more.

"Master is back! I'm so glad he is safe!", she said and gasped at the sight of his chest, blushing. "Did master...", the vampire cleared his throat. "Ah, sorry. Did you get... er...", she was too shy to ask his master something like that.

"Woah, you sure got a nice fuck-partner back there.", came Nero's voice. Dumas laughed. "Look at you! So full of hickeys and lovebites!"

"Oh, hush.", he said walking to the black cat. "What can I said? I have a great time back there. It was a good idea to have done that walk.", he went inside and paled when he saw Aaron lying on the couch with Lucian on him, both making out like there was no tomorrow. "For fuck's sake! Get the fuck off of the couch!!", yelled the vampire, startling both youngest. Aaron blushed, not knowing how to react at such embarrassing situation. "Come one! Off, both of you! The couch is sacred and no one can sit on there unless I told so!", he almost kicked Lucian out if it wasn't for the boy that calmed both vampires down.

But Lucian looked with wide eye the former's Duke torso, whistling when he sat on the couch. The dhampir was on the floor, snuggling against Aaron's body.

"You sure had a lot of fun, eh?", said the dhampir. His hormones were still high after that agitated night he had with Aaron. "The scratches on your back says a lot."

"And you?", he could see some lovebites under the casket armor Lucian always wore. "I see that shine of lust in your eyes that tells me you enjoyed your lovemaking with Aaron, I am wrong?", to his satisfaction, Aaron gasped and blushed deeply. Perrault just sat on his master's lap and he petted her head with gentleness, hearing her purr. Nero rested on the table, not wanting to make Lucian jealous. "Is he a screamer?"

"Dumas!", yelled Aaron, too embarrassed to keep listening. He turned his head, not looking at the former Duke who laughed.

"Oh, you have no idea how many sweet sounds he did every time I copulated with him.", answered Lucian with a loud purr. "It was pure ecstasy. That is what Aaron is.", the poor boy tried to hide somewhere, but he only hid behind the horny dhampir. "I can tell you I lost complete control over my body and poured myself into him countless of times."

Dumas laughed once again, and called for the boy that was still hiding behind Lucian.

"Did you have your fun time with Lucian too, kid? Like, doing it but the other way around?", even being that embarrassed, Aaron managed to smiled shyly and nodded, before hiding behind his lover once more. "Aha! So you did fuck Lucian at last!", the dhampir purred again, falling on his lover that laid on the floor, unable to help himself. The cute and shy expressions of Aaron were like the most powerful aphrodisiac that has been poured inside his throat. Dumas snickered. "You sure are full of surprises, kid. I didn't have my hopes up that you would find courage enough to fill Lucian's lovely behind.", suddenly remembering something, he grinned and crunched down, taking Perrault off of his lap. "Hey, I bet you used the little toys I bought that are in the light table, right?", he asked in a whisper to the dhampir, who snapped his head up.

"You bought what?", said Aaron, paling. Was Dumas talking about what he was thinking?

"Oh, don't tell me you haven't seen!", he said with a huge and naughty smile on his face. "In the second or third drawer of the light table there are several sex toys I found in the city. They are nice, you should try them out."

"Wait, Lucian! NO!", yelled Aaron when the dhampir lifted him on his shoulder, rushing to their room. "Put me down!"

"I will, don't worry!", Lucian closed the door with his foot, excited about those 'toys' that Dumas bought for himself that he forgot about.

"Wasn't that... harsh? I don't think Aaron will be able to speed up with Lucian's mating.", said Nero, hearing the yelling of the boy about not wanting to cooperate.

"I did it for fun, I still like to annoy those two.", answered the vampire, sitting on the chair and petting Nero's head, much to his surprise, and heard him purr when he rubbed under his chin. "Ah, Aaron is such a lucky kid. Even if Lucian is becoming a vampire, I guess there is no greater admiration for their mate than vampires do for their own. It's like a mutual worshiping, in the case of a couple of vampires."

"What do vampires do when they have a human mate?", asked Perrault, jealous that Nero was getting her master's attention and seeing how he enjoyed it.

"Some worship them, like our nature tells us, but a very few treat them as equals, as if the humans were vampires like them.", explained the former Duke. "Lucian may end up worshiping the boy, seeing as how he couldn't live without him. Remember how devastated he was the first week he got here?", said to Perrault and Nero, both of them nodded. "Yeah, I guess he will worship his little boy like he deserves. Aaron had put a lot of him into Lucian and is good to know that Lucian does the same with Aaron. What's the matter?", said when Nero stood up, perking his hears, trying to catch a soft sound he recognized.

"Someone is approaching.", answered. The tip of his tail moved back and forth, like he was haunting down a mouse to eat. "It seems to be a small enemy, not exceeding the size of an owl."

"Then we shouldn't worry if it's only an owl.", said Dumas yawning.

"Yes we should, master, because it seems is one of the other Terrennials approaching. I can feel his powers."

"Fuck! If they find us, we will be screwed!", cursed Nero, flying out from the window, followed by Perrault.

Dumas sat up and looked from the other window meeting up with a pair of big eyes. The only thing he saw before the Sun hit his face was a big, yellow and purple owl flying back to the shadows of the forest.


	5. Chapter 5

**(Fixed some mistakes, Re-Upload.)**

**WARNING: Smex in the chapter. LucianxAaron. **

**Between, is 'cumming' or 'cuming'? ****Or neither?**

* * *

5

Once Dumas left the cottage, Aaron turned to Lucian, who was still watching the closed door where the vampire just walked away.

"It wasn't nice of you to do that, even if you are that possessive.", grumbled the boy, sitting on the chair. The dhampir groaned.

"I don't care.", he replied, walking to the kitchen and opening the refrigerator to get a fresh, bottle of water. "He knows how I am and does it even so."

"Have you thought he may want to befriend with us?"

"After what happened? No.", he watched the boy sigh heavily and walked to their room. "What?"

"Nothing.", answered Aaron, taking some clothes and going to the bathroom. "I'm going to take a shower."

"Mind if I join you?", asked in a naughty voice the dhampir.

"Yes, I mind.", was the last thing the boy said before closing the door and locking it.

Lucian groaned again. What was with him now?

Aaron sighed again and dropped the clean clothes on the floor. He stripped, opening hot and cold water at the same time, getting a nice and warm temperature. Stepping under the rain, he smiled. The water was warm enough for him. He let his hair fall on his back, dripping wet, and massaged his head, feeling more and more relaxed.

It was the night of the first full moon. What was going to happen? He was excited about the sole idea of staying all night with Lucian, alone. Aaron blushed deeply. He took the soap and a sponge, rubbing his body, soaping it. Aaron thought how he could take the situation. He may reject and wait for tomorrow, and hope that Lucian understands it. It was the boy's first time and he wasn't completely sure about his feelings towards the swordsman, but he seemed to understand them pretty well. He liked when both flirted and how Lucian touched his body, how he kissed him, how he holds him. It was a nice, warm sensation that couldn't be replaced, now that he thought of it. Aaron compared it to when he stays with Ernest, Kay or Bea, and it wasn't the same. Sure, he knew about love and all, but he feared it was only because Lucian was physically attractive. The boy had seen cases in where the poor swordsman was highly molested because of his attractive body.

Aaron liked his smile, his eyes, his hair, his scent. The way he moved, the way he acted towards him in such tender and gentle manner, so caring, so loving. Both spent a lot of time together, chatting, resting, eating, and walking or just both of them under the fresh shadow of a tree in a hot afternoon, enjoying each other's presence. It made him sad when Lucian had to go for long period of times, not knowing what to do in his free time since he spends that time with the dark swordsman. He tried doing suggestions of Toasty like going for walks, helping in the Guild, going out with Ernest and the others. It helped a bit, but soon he would remember Lucian once again and the sadness would show on his young face. He didn't know if he was truly in love with Lucian, or he was confusing it with a very close friendship. He needed to know how the dark swordsman felt about him in order to clear some of his questions.

Perhaps Nero knew the answer.

Nero spent a lot of time and he may know about Lucian's feelings towards him. The cat, being the curious he is, could have asked to his partner about how he felt about the young boy and Lucian might have responded either yes or no to it. Another thing to take in mind is that since his vampire blood reacted towards the moon, it may happen that the entire situation was a misunderstood. The hormones and sexual frustration would guide Lucian to do something he didn't want and reject later. Was that the case? Aaron bit his bottom lip. Could it be that Lucian runaway especially because he didn't want to do something he would reject later, like mating with him and not caring about later? That young female vampire told him that he had big potential to be the next mate of other vampires and perhaps of Lucian too. Now, was Lucian only reacting towards the moon, just letting his hormones work, choose the correct one and mate? That was the big question. Aaron knew it wasn't, he knew Lucian too well to think that the swordsman would let his dark powers take control, but as Dumas said, the more he fought the faster he converted.

The young one hoped it wasn't that way. He just wanted to be with Lucian, that's all, and seemed that the swordsman too, but he wasn't that demonstrative. Aaron trusted Toasty's words about how deeply Lucian cared about him, but how difficult it was for him to show those feelings.

"Hey, kid, you're taking too long.", came Nero's voice from the little window in the bathroom. The cat was resting on the edge, wings folded and tail curled besides his body. "There isn't too much hot water in the tank, so I suggest you to end your shower quickly."

"Oh, sorry. I will.", he said taking shampoo to wash his hair. "Nero, can I ask you something?", the dark Terrennial moved the tip of his tail and perked his hears.

"Of course."

"Which are Lucian's feelings towards me?", he massaged his hair, letting the foam cover his head completely. "I mean, I have been talking with Toasty and he said that Lucian cared about me a lot, but he didn't know how to express it. And, after all this time, I might have fallen for him, but I can't be sure that the way he is now is because of the mating cycle or because he has feelings towards me.", he sighed, letting the water wash the foam away, while he rubbed his fingers on his head. Nero waited. "Is he only reacting towards the moon, or the moon is letting his true feelings come out?"

"I can assure you that this behavior is because the moon is letting Lucian's true feelings go crazy.", answered the cat with a smile. "You should have seen him the first week he came here, when phase of the crescent moon was on the sky.", Aaron, once he washed up completely, he closed the shower and stepped outside, grabbing the towel and drying his hair. "Lucian was so damn sad. You may not believe it, but he ended up crying because of how he missed you but couldn't return, fearing he would mean any harm to you."

"But he isn't any harm to me.", said the young one surprised after hearing that.

"I know, but that's what he thought and Dumas tried to calm him down, but it was useless. He was too attached to you and couldn't bear the loneliness inside the cottage, not being able to see you nor touch you or smell you.", the cat stirred and yawned, sitting on the edge. "When I came saying that you wanted to see him, Lucian's face lighted up and was so happy at the idea, but then he remembered his aggressiveness and reject the idea. He didn't want to harm you with his berserk modes, as Lucian called them."

"I understand.", said the boy. He put his clothes on and the towel around his neck to prevent his hair to wet the t-shirt. "So, I can be sure that he is... well, in love with me too?", asked, blushing again.

Nero smiled.

"Of course, he doesn't know how to show it.", he laughed when Aaron sighed. "Are you letting him copulate with you? After this, I mean."

"I don't know.", admitted. "It's my first time and I feel excited but at the same time, I'm afraid."

"Well, after four years, I think is a good time, isn't it?", said the cat jumping from the window to the boy's shoulder and resting on it. "You and Lucian must to be together. It is everywhere; in your body language, the way he treats you, the way you treat him, how happy both of you are when you are together. Simple things that mean a lot and let the others know how in love are both of you without knowing it."

"Hush, Nero, you are making me blush again!", said Aaron giggling.

"You told me yourself. You will protect him from the other gunslinger and even give your life to save him if you have to.", repeated the cat what Aaron told him when he arrived to the cottage.

Aaron sighed one more time.

He opened the door, not finding Lucian anywhere. Perrault said he went to patrol his territory and will not come back in an hour or so. It was a quarter to eight, so he may return around nine o'clock, perhaps earlier. That was plenty of time to think how to prepared himself when Lucian returns. Aaron's stomach twitched in anticipation. He went to their room and closed the window with the dark curtain. He took some candles and put them on the night table, on the floor around the bed at a secure distance and light them all, seeing how the dim and orange light filled the room, giving it a nice and elegant feeling. Nero appeared from behind and rested on Aaron's shoulder again, watching around.

"Nice.", he said. "Do you want us to help you?"

"Please."

Aaron lighted off all candles and started cleaning up a bit, tidying the bed and using the little he had to make the room more pleasant to the eye. He didn't know that Perrault was digging in his clothes and when she came with a long t-shirt and Lucian's jacket, Aaron didn't know their purpose until the cat said it was to welcome the dark swordsman and invite him to bed in the most provocative way Aaron could. The young boy blushed deeply again, not knowing how to behave in that sensual way that vampires were so used to it. He needed to practice a bit before Lucian returned to give him a big surprise.

While he put the candles on their original places again, Nero gave him tips to act when Lucian returns. He could do his shy expressions that he loved so much, expose his bare legs on the bed and let the jacket slip from his body, in a teasing way. That would make Lucian jump directly on him and rip his clothes without effort, having a nice way to molest him how he wanted. Aaron giggled at Nero's idea but it seemed like a very good one for the moment.

Perrault left without telling where was going, so both of them kept practicing. Nero started saying he needed to change the tone of his voice to a more low one, talking in sweet whispers that will make Lucian melt. Aaron tried and tried, but it was difficult for him to do something it was so out of character in him. He wasn't that seducing like Lucian or even Dumas; he was too shy for the course and couldn't do much. Next, Nero told him to practice some body language that the dhampir will take without the boy saying a word. The first one was simple; just lying down on the bed with his legs not so separated, most of his body covered with the jacket. The second one was sitting, and Aaron liked it more than the first one, since he sat on the bed, his legs closed, one on the other. He would have enough flexibility to turn around and even face Lucian when he entered the room. Aaron decided that that way was how he was going to receive the dhampir once he returned.

He went to the second room in the cottage and found some of Dumas' things. From all, he found a hairbrush, perfect to tame his wild, brown hair a bit. He sat on the tidy bed and, using a piece of a broken mirror he found under the bed, he started to brush his hair, trying different ways it could look better but, in the end, the usual spiked up look remained. His hair was too wild to tame. He let the hairbrush and the mirror in the same place they were and could not help himself and dug a bit around, finding clothes that were from Dumas. Hanging inside an old wardrobe there were several dark colored capes, used to walk under the sun when the vampire needed to buy something, as Aaron thought. From all, he spotted Rymer's one. It was a bit dirty than the rest, but could smell a spicy scent in it. Was that Rymer's scent? Aaron could only imagine.

Barefoot as he was, he felt the coldness of the wooden floor from the cold winds that entered in the room. He kneeled, opening the drawers in the wardrobe. There, he found several shirts, pants, underwear, socks and other peace of clothing. It told some of Dumas' taste in clothing, as seeing he liked to be always the provocative Duke he once was, perhaps due to his vampire condition. Aaron noticed it was good type of clothing. Dumas sure had a taste for expensive things. Perhaps it was another vampire thing? Aaron closed the drawers and the doors of the wardrobe. Just then, he noticed that the bed was king sized. It was tied but dusky. Why Lucian hadn't come here? He had more space rather than being in a normal sized bed, but then he remembered how both of them ended sharing the same bed in the Inn.

It was an accident. Both of them were too tired that day. They entered the Inn, yawning and with their legs crying for a nice rest or a nice place to stay comfortable. They have been in missions with the Guild for all day and night and what they all wanted was a nice, fluffy bed to lay on and sleep. Both had been sleeping together outside in the nature, in the forests or streets when they were out in missions, curling up each other to share the warm of their bodies in cold night. Lucian didn't need it at all, but Aaron couldn't stand the cold if he wasn't that covered with enough warm clothes. So, the swordsman would quit his jacket for those nights to cover the young boy with it (he knew it was an excuse of Aaron to wear it without him getting pissed off, but he didn't mind at all), and held him in his arms, making sure that the boy didn't suffer from the cold winds blowing in the night. After the last mission, they returned to Acuna and rent, for once and all, a room with the money Ernest gave them for their help in the Guild. Lucian was already walking up stairs and Aaron was just getting the keys, when the owner said there was a little problem with the room, but both of them were already gone. It was a surprise when the young boy opened the door and found a small room, for a single and unique person to rest in it. There was also a couch, but it was reserved for spare time like watching TV or just resting on it.

"Oh...", said Aaron when he saw the tight situation.

"You will sleep on the couch.", they said at the same time. Both of them looked at each other before Lucian walked downstairs to see if there was another room, but with two beds.

"I tried to warn you, but you just rushed upstairs.", answered the owner. "I only have single rooms. If you want to have separated beds, you will have to walk at last ten blocks to the closest Inn and rent a new room."

"Fuck.", cursed Lucian. "Just great.", he said and left, going up stairs again. Aaron looked at him, wanting to know what happened but he gave an idea when the swordsman entered the room. The boy closed the door behind him and watched as Lucian got rid of his jacket and put it on the couch. "Alright. What do you want to do?"

"I don't mind sharing the bed or sleeping on the couch.", said the young boy. He had slept besides Lucian countless of nights. Why would be different on the bed? "What do you want to do?", asked instead.

Lucian thought what Aaron thought. They have slept countless of nights together. What was the real difference making it on the bed? No difference at all. But it was more of being comfortable than anything else. Besides, Lucian hated sleeping on the couch. He shrugged.

"It was just a matter of being comfortable, that's all. If you don't mind, then neither I.", he answered.

That night, after both of them took a nice and fresh shower, they laid on the bed and almost instantly they curled up. It didn't feel anything different from the sleep nights they had during mission. They were more comfortable, actually, and both of them enjoyed it. Since then, they started sharing the bed without problems. Aaron giggled at the memory. He always felt secure in Lucian's arms. They were strong and brutal, yet gentle and soft when they were around his neck or waist, or just around him. The warmness was pleasant and he wanted to be in them as long as he could, hearing the dhampir's soft heartbeat and feel his chest rise up and down, at the rhythm of his breaths, lulling him to sleep countless of times in them. And Lucian didn't mind at all, knowing he liked to have him in them.

Did Dumas feel the same way when Rymer was still alive? Aaron couldn't get the subject out of his mind. He felt sad that they were one of Dumas' first reasons of hate and rage, yet he forgives them for it. How can you forgive someone who took your most loved person from your side? Was because he took Ella from Sartana's side first, that he forgave the new Sartana called Lucian? Aaron couldn't understand it at all, especially because Lucian was too quiet and relaxed in the enemy's territory. Did he finally understand Dumas or it was because he was staying in the cottage? The boy really liked the former Duke now, regardless of the previous events that lead them where he was now, and it wasn't because he was helping Lucian. The three of them were once in pain, knew how it was to lose that close person to you, that was what bonded the three of them in that particular situation. Lucian died once, and remade his life besides Nero, finding in Aaron that forgotten love he once felt for Ella. Aaron felt anger and sadness upon his father death, and found in Lucian the protection he always needed and wanted in a family way, but those feelings developed in something more intimate. From Dumas he could say that he lost all, but either way he remade his life just like Lucian, besides the only friend that still cared for him that was Perrault, and then, little by little, he let both Lucian and Aaron get in his life to be, perhaps, their new pair of friend he ever will get. Aaron wanted to reattribute that friendship in trusting him back like Dumas trusted him, but Lucian was being too stubborn about the matter. Did he was still angry about what happened? If he forgot who he was once, he could forget what Dumas did.

"Aaron! Look what I found!", exclaimed Perrault. The boy looked up to the cat, which was holding a small, blue bottle filled with a dark liquid. Aaron thought how Perrault cared for the former Duke, and how she cared for him and Lucian now, if she ever did.

"What is it?", he asked taking it from the cat's paws. He opened it, and a sweet smell came from it. It touched his deepest sexual desire and he immediately knew what it was. "Why would Dumas have a bottle of aphrodisiac?"

"He always has one.", Perrault answered. "Just in case, he says."

"And why would you give it to me?", he said closing it.

"At this rate, you will never catch Lucian's mating speed. Vampires last almost all night, and you, being human, will not last than two hours straight.", explained the Terrennial.

"It makes senses. When should I drink it?"

"Once Lucian has pinned you down on the bed.", she happily answered. Aaron giggled and though the kind of talks she, Rymer and Dumas would have in they spare time to hear her talk like that, without shame. "It will make effect a few minutes after you drink it."

"How long I will stand?"

"If you drink all the bottle, perhaps two days.", she said. "But you will not drink all the bottle, I assume.", the boy stood up. A little laugh escaped his lips. "With five drops you will be fine.", she followed the boy that stepped outside the room and came to his, finding Nero sleeping on the bed. "Geez, he always sleeps in the most convenient places, doesn't he?"

"You can't blame him. He has been taken care of Lucian and Dumas with you. He must be tired.", he spoke, taking the sleepy black cat on his arms and placing him on the couch. "Do you feel Lucian's presence?"

"Yes, he is coming to the cottage and will be here any time. You should get prepared!", said the female cat making Aaron run to their room. "I will be outside with Nero, so you don't feel embarrassed of us hearing your sound of your lovemaking with him."

He definitely was going to ask Dumas what they talked about with Perrault. The cat was shameless about the matter. He saw Perrault wake Nero up and both of them flew outside the windows, closing them after they went through. Seemed that the Terrennials wanted it to be pretty secret, and Aaron thanked it was that way. He would die of embarrassment if Dumas or any other vampire or person he knew walked up and say it heard everything. He closed the door behind him and, shaking with excitement, he sat on the bed, watching the blue bottle on his hands. The aphrodisiac had a sweet smell, would it taste the same? He could only imagine, but he would find it out once Lucian had come to the room.

Aaron heard the heavy footsteps Lucian's boots made on the wooden floor, and soon, two heavy sounds as well. It seemed the dhampir got rid of the boots. And, with a yelp of surprise from Aaron, Lucian opened the door, stopping right there at the saw of his partner wearing only the long t-shirt and his jacket, with Dumas' especial bottle for aphrodisiac. Lucian didn't mind the bottle and took a nice look at Aaron's well built legs. They were attractive, slim, strong. It made them him kneel on the floor and lick them. The thought made the dhampir sigh and lick his lips. He closed the door softly; watching as Aaron's face blushed, not taking his eyes of him. It was indeed a surprise and the candles around the room gave to the boy an orange glow that only made Lucian want the young one more than he already did.

Aaron let the dhampir move. He watched how Lucian made his way towards him and sat besides him, putting two fingers under his chin to lift his head softly. The dhampir sank in those grey eyes before kissing him gently on the lips. He felt Aaron shudder and smiled, letting go of them. He bent forwards once more, this time meeting with the soft, tender skin of the boy's neck. Aaron shuddered a second time and a small, and almost inaudible moan escaped his lips, that Lucian's sensible ears caught. He kissed his neck softly then, used his teeth and sharp fangs and started biting. He put his arms around the boy's middle and laid him on the bed, crawling upon him without removing his mouth from his neck. He traveled up, tracing the boy's jawline, hearing him make small gasps at the new sensation his body was feeling. The dhampir went once more to his neck, but to the other side, and sucked hard on it, leaving a huge and red hickey on the right side of Aaron's neck.

"Ack! That hurt!", yelled the young one, blushing deeply. Why vampires have to be so damn possessive over their mates? He expected to hear a soft apologize, but it never came. Instead, the dhampir started licking at the wound. "Uh, what are you doing?"

"Healing up the hickey a bit.", he answered, returning to his actions. "Tomorrow night it will be not so sore.", he laughed at Aaron's expression. "Don't worry."

"I just can't understand why you vampires and half vampires are that possessive.", the young one bit his bottom lip when Lucian rubbed his inner legs. He shivered at the contact and moaned softly. He wanted to close his legs but Lucian prevents it. He was stronger than Aaron.

Lucian's fingers trailed up, finding the muscles of his stomach, lifting the shirt up while his tongue traced his torso leaving wet, saliva traces on it. His bright red eyes never left Aaron's, as the boy didn't actually knew how to react at the sight of Lucian licking his way up upon his chest, quickly finding his nipples. His naughty tongue flicked one of them and the boy squirmed underneath. Aaron shuddered when Lucian bit down on it, sucking on it gently enough to have it erected. The boy took off of the jacket and let it slip to the floor and soon, the t-shirt followed. The only thing that Aaron had now was the bottle on his left hand. Otherwise, he was naked in front of Lucian, who admired his body for a few moments before coming to his eyes. He bent forward and kissed him once more, parting his lips and letting his tongue slip into Aaron's mouth, who moaned at the feeling but, shyly and nervous, responded with his own muscle, hearing Lucian moan deeply and loudly. Soon after that, the dhampir started to purr into the back of his throat while battling with the boy's tongue.

He felt Aaron's finger of his right hand start unbuttoning the sides of the armor that covered Lucian's torso. But still, he needed to get rid of the soft fabric covering Lucian's body and he didn't know how to take it off. The dhampir separated himself from the boy and laughed at his amusement. While he took off his vest, Aaron opened the bottle of the aphrodisiac. The sweet smell invaded him and his groin gave a slight twitch. He didn't know how he was going to react when drinking it. He was still unsure.

"Don't drink it if you don't want to.", came Lucian's voice. The dhampir was already nude and Aaron blushed deeply again, trying to take his eyes of off the other's well toned body, but it was failure. Lucian smiled. "Like what you see?"

Aaron turned his head to the left, spotting the interesting floor filled with candles. He felt Lucian's hot breath in his right ear and he let a small pleasant noise came from his throat when the dhampir's tongue met his ear.

"Perrault told me I couldn't last too long with you being in heat.", he explained as he felt the other travel from his ear to his neck, nibbling it softly. "She said you vampires last all night.", he gasped when Lucian took care of the nipple that didn't get attention earlier. "And I want to...", he interrupted himself when the dhampir bit down on his nipple, sucking gently on it and, with the tip of his tongue, circled the nipple's aureole. The boy bit his bottom lip once more and, when Lucian decided to move on, he continued. "I want to satisfy you in all I can.", he heard the dhampir chuckle and he lifted his head, narrowing his eyes. "What's so funny?", Lucian's red eyes locked on his.

"You are so cute, did you know?", he said with a small smile on his face. "And beautiful, too.", he kissed the heated skin under his lips and nuzzled it. "So beautiful.", he whispered in the darkness of the room, only having Aaron to hear those sincere words, words that he never thought of hearing coming from the mean, arrogant and bad mouthed dark swordsman. Lucian licked the skin and purred once more, lifting his gaze to meet Aaron's eyes. "Ah, I love you."

Aaron's heart almost stopped right there, but he found himself smiling to the swordsman. He leaned forward and locked his lips with Lucian's before parting them, and breathing out in them his soft response in a whisper.

"I love you too.", he said, in a murmur that Lucian's ears could catch. It was a secret he only could hear. He kissed him again and the dhampir returned the gesture with equal gentility, though he knew that that gentility was going to fade soon to let his full sexual instincts come to play.

Lucian left Aaron's lips and kept kissing the heated skin underneath them, feeling how the boy tensed up as he brushed his erected member with his own body. Lucian nibbled the inner legs once he got down there, and the boy muffled a moan with his hands, not really wanting to let his really loud moans step outside his throat, even if the dhampir loved to hear them. Lucian's hair tickled Aaron's crotch area and made him squirm at each light touch, trying to also find a way to drink the aphrodisiac that was still on his hands. He found it when the dhampir returned to kiss his stomach, and the boy carefully only let five drops hit his tongue. The sweet smell made him moan and Lucian looked up just when Aaron closed the bottle and put it on the night table. He smirked.

"Will you let me go...", he looked up for more smoothing words but at not finding anyone, he finished saying "Will you let me go that wild?"

"Wild? Wild on your instincts, you say?", Aaron was surprised at how quick the aphrodisiac was taking effect. He was already sweating, panting and with a nice hard. His cheeks were so red that it looked like if they were going to explode in any moment. "Oh, just do whatever you want!", he moaned. He never knew how hot and horny could his body get.

"Are you sure? You know you don't have to say those things to me, knowing that I can use them against you.", said seriously Lucian, but with the same smirk on his face. He licked the now hotter skin and the salty sweat covering it, licking his lips. He was desperate to take Aaron right away, but something of enjoyment for the little virgin didn't seem that bad at all. He could make him scream, if he wanted. Lucian grinned at the mere idea.

But he didn't expect to have Aaron's hand on his head, urging him to his crotch area. When Lucian lifted his gaze, he could see the lustfulness in his eyes. How was the aphrodisiac affecting him? There was only one way to find it out, and Aaron surprised him more with his next phrase.

"Start sucking me off, and then we will come to an agreement."

Oh, Lucian was so going to enjoy that night filled with lust.

The dhampir chuckled again and bit down on Aaron's right inner leg, blood pouring from it. He licked it, moaning at the sweet and addicting taste of it. He wanted more of it, but his body needed other things at the moment. He nibbled his way up to Aaron's hard member and licked the base with the tip of his tongue, biting softly and then grabbing it by the middle, making a nice suck that made the boy arch from the bed and moan deeply, not really caring now if his moans went through the door or of the cottage itself. His mind wasn't in the right state to think about it in those moments. But he managed to find a break and curse the aphrodisiac for being too strong for his own taste. Who would knew that Dumas had such tastes in such things? Aaron would definitely need one for next month and for the next ones, but it would be one it was much, much softer that the one he drank. Perhaps he had to drink only two drops? He didn't know, and now, it didn't matter at all.

He groaned when he felt Lucian's lips on the tip of his hard member, blowing softly on it and making him shudder. The dhampir took the length into his mouth, sucking hard and playing with his tongue, running his teeth and fangs on it, hearing Aaron gasp loudly and then groan at the electrical sensation he was getting from the actions. Lucian let the member get out of his mouth as he nibbled the tip with his teeth, teasing him. He took it once more inside his mouth and started once more sucking at it while listening to Aaron's soft noises of pleasure, something that made his hormones go wild. The mere sounds were turning him on so much that he thought he was going to cum anytime. Lucky to Lucian, he could control a bit his needs and kept giving Aaron the blow job until the boy cummed into his mouth, feeling him relaxing a bit but soon he groaned at finding that he was still hard. He cursed again the drink he took.

The dhampir, using the semen it was inside his mouth, he coated his fingers with it and teased Aaron's anus. He watched him open his eyes, still panting hard, and lock his gaze at his hand, currently busy stretching the boy open. He didn't feel pain; it was more uncomfortable than anything but he did feel a bit of pain when Lucian stuck three fingers in him, stretching him for what was going to come. He sighed at the strange feeling, and arched on bed when the dhampir found his prostate. Aaron made a loud exclamation and cursed Lucian out loud when he rubbed it again, and again, and again.

"Fuck, you are going to make me cum again!", he yelled and his next phrase was interrupted when a high moaned escaped his mouth at Lucian's last teasing on his prostrate.

The dhampir removed his fingers and, with the semen still in his mouth, he spited it on his hands and coated his fully hard member with a few pumps on it. He swallowed the leftovers and licked his lips, removing any trail of white that it may be there. He snickered, smirking widely. He took Aaron's legs on his shoulders, lifting his hips. The boy pushed against the pillow, making himself comfortable. He laid his arms at his sides, finding a bit of balance. The dhampir waited as he finished moving and thrusted, eliciting a soft moan from the boy and muffled moan from himself. Even stretched up, Aaron was still tight. The muscles around him loosed up and he began to move, pushing harder, making the young one squirm and pant with each thrust.

Lucian could feel himself slip away; letting his vampiric half take control of the situation. He fought against it, trying to remain in his true self, but the heat didn't let him that wish. The moans of Aaron were exciting him too much, and he found himself thrusting harder, clenching his teeth, unable to stop doing the same pleasure sounds that his partner was doing. He watched as the boy opened his eyes suddenly, arching from the bed, murmuring Lucian's name in the darkness of the room. The dhampir answered the call with a low groan. He hissed, groaning again when Aaron's nail sank into the sweaty, heated skin of his back, pouring some blood from the deep wounds, not that the boy has minded, he was too immersed in the pleasure the dhampir was giving to him. Besides, Lucian didn't protest against the pain that shoot his back. He was glad that his partner was also 'marking' him, to say at last. He wanted, also, to let Aaron have his way with his body as he pleased, to do what he wanted and let him mark his skin how he wanted.

Aaron moaned Lucian's name again, opening his watery eyes and meet the red ones of the dhampir. He spotted his long fangs and shivered at the sight. He arched from the bed. One of Lucian's thrust hit his prostate again. He was close to the next orgasm, so was his partner, and couldn't help himself and scratched Lucian's back again, crying out loud. He felt the dhampir's breath against his neck and his pants and moans in his left ear, while feeling him thrusting down, with such force and speed that left Aaron filled when he arched from the bed one more time, gasping Lucian's name when he came hard on their chests, feeling the hot seed of his partner fill his insides. The dhampir grunted, not knowing he had sank his claws into the bed and rip the sheets apart at the hit of ecstasy in his body. He panted loudly, nibbling Aaron's neck softly before sinking his fangs on the right side of the boy, drinking up a bit of his blood before removing his mouth from it and licking the wound, healing it slowly.

The boy was finally marked to be his alone. He wanted to have a similar mark on his neck as well, to say that he was Aaron's only. Lucian was kind of, dare him to say, romantic at some point. Perhaps because of his raging hormones in his heated body.

Aaron opened his eyes. Lucian stared at them, hypnotized. He rested his forehead against his, sinking in those grey pools filled with love, bliss and lust all at once. Aaron had such beautiful eyes. The boy blinked, still panting from their lovemaking, and smiled softly. He hugged the dhampir, who purred, sliding into Aaron's body, still hot and sweaty.

"Such tenacity and passion for being virgin...", whispered Lucian once Aaron come to lock his eyes into his.

The boy giggled.

"I think I can blame part of this to the aphrodisiac.", the dhampir smiled at the statement, agreeing silent to it. "What's wrong?", asked Aaron when Lucian made a painful expression on his face, but he smiled again.

"Oh, is nothing. I'm just... getting a little inpatient...ah.", the boy could feel how Lucian got a hard again still inside him and that made Aaron laugh. "Fuck, damn hormones.... damn mating... ugh... I don't know how are you going to get used to this."

"I will, don't worry.", he licked the dhampir's right ear and snickered. He still wanted more, though; he wasn't letting Lucian get all the fun that night. "I don't know about you, but I'm still hungry."

Lucian purred and grinned, locking his lips with the boy, sharing a passionate kiss with him. He separated himself from the boy and made him flip on the bed, lying on his stomach. Aaron turned his head a bit and shuddered when Lucian licked his back, between his shoulderblades, nibbling softly, traveling down, and leaving little red marks on the white skin. He felt the dhampir spread his legs with his hands. His tongue, lips and teeth not leaving the boy's column, still marking until he reached his butt. Lucian licked both cheeks with equal care, and the gesture made Aaron moan softly, hiding his blushing face in the pillow. The boy tensed up and gasped when he felt the tip of the other's tongue play with his hole, teasing it, running the wet muscle up and down, coating the hole with high amounts of saliva and using the semen that was still there, lubricating it more than already was. Lucian bit down, making Aaron moan loudly and shiver, spreading his legs wider. He was hard like the dhampir, who was trying to restraining himself from pouring into the boy merciless. He cursed his hormones again, groaning in frustration when his member gave a light twitch in anticipation. Transparent drops of precum were sliding off Lucian's member, who was too busy lubricating Aaron while listening to the boy's soft moans to really care about that.

Once he finished, he lifted the boy's hips and Aaron stood on his fours, grabbing the headboard of the bed. He watched as Lucian stood on his knees, grabbing his hips with gentility before thrusting. The boy arched, biting his bottom lip, shivering at the feeling of being filled again. Lucian started moving once he felt Aaron's muscle loose up, like the first time, hearing the soft mews the boy made. The young one tightened his hands on the headboard, making his knuckles go white at the pressure he was gripping it. He made a deep moan when Lucian hit his prostate, arching his back and rolling his head back, hearing how the dhampir returned his pleasure sounds by thrusting faster and harder. The boy followed the speed, gasping for air and gripping the headboard for balance, spreading his legs wider to have another source of balance and not fall on the bed. He kept moaning, lifting his head up, tightening his teeth, moaning Lucian's name over and over again, exciting the dhampir more and more, letting his dark powers to take control of his partner without knowing.

But Lucian did know, but didn't care. He was with Aaron and only cared about him. At those instants, he didn't care if he turned into a full vampire. He didn't care if he gave all his memory, all his human life if that meant to be at Aaron's side forever. And that was his main target. The dhampir moaned when the boy tightened around him, sending him almost at the edge of pleasure, thrusting back hard and deep, brushing Aaron's prostate. The action made the boy cum nicely on the bed, yelling Lucian's name and arching his back, tightening around him even more, resulting in the damphir to cum inside him as well.

The boy gasped and fell on the bed when Lucian exited him, panting hard after the second round. But he wasn't done yet, oh no. The aphrodisiac was reaching his maximum effect and Aaron was feeling it in now. He was still hungry for more and wasn't stopping unless Lucian satisfied him. Reading his thoughts, the dhampir whined and purred, falling backwards on the now messy bed, spreading his legs, opening to the boy and inviting him to use his body as he wanted. Aaron didn't reject the invitation and crawled to the now submissive dhampir, who didn't move at all, letting the boy have his way how he pleased. The boy claimed his lips and shared a deep, passionate kiss with him, tracing his chest with his fingertips making Lucian shiver at the contact. After tasting him with his tongue, Aaron left his mouth and sucked hard on the right side of his neck leaving a nice hickey, like the one on his own neck. The dhampir purred pleasant at the mark, gladly to have it. The boy started traveling down, nibbling and biting the heated skin of his lover, finding it addicting. His lips couldn't leave the strange taste of it, the salty taste of the sweat covering it. He opened his eyes and saw how the candles shined on his wet body. Aaron moaned at the sight, especially when Lucian's red orbs opened lightly to watch him between the darkness, with a really submissive expression on his face. He blushed deeply, turning away his gaze, not daring to confront his master.

Suddenly, Aaron felt with power and that excited him. He chuckled, bit down and hard on one of the erected nipples, hearing the dhampir gasp at the pain and pleasure rushing into his body. His claws tightened around the sheets, shuddering at Aaron's actions. The tip of the boy's tongue teased around the nipple's aureole, before licking it completely. The lips surrounded the hard nub and the mouth sucked on it. Lucian moaned again, back arching from the bed, silently pleading for more. The boy left the nipple and traveled downwards nibbling, kissing, licking, biting. He rubbed Lucian's crotch area, kneeling between his legs and admiring him from there, grinning at how desperate was his lover for his touch. The boy licked the inner legs, caressing them with soft touches of his wet tongue and lips, kissing it tenderly, making his way to the hard member of Lucian, who whimpered at the light touches of his lover on his heated body. He wanted him right now! He couldn't wait any longer!

"So needy...", heard the dhampir. Aaron licked his member from base to tip, hearing a low moan come from his partner. Lucian shivered. "Do you want me so bad?"

"Yes!", answered the dhampir, rolling his head to the left and taking the sheets in his fingers, not really wanting to wait anylonger. He wanted the boy inside him right now. "I want you to claim me now!", he pleaded, blushing deeply when Aaron nibbled on the tip of his erected member. A soft mew came from his throat as the boy continued to work on his lower body.

"Tsk...", the boy chuckled. "You will have to earn it.", he added with a grin.

Lucian groaned in frustration.

Aaron took his member into his mouth, sucking greedy on it, as wanting to take as much as he could. The dhampir arched from the bed, moaning loudly at the intense feeling. He pushed Aaron's head to his crotch area, urging him for more, but the boy kept his slow peace, not showing sings of speeding up anytime which frustrated Lucian more. Aaron left his member, now coated with saliva, and moved downwards, finding his hole and licked it. The dhampir gasped at the sudden feeling. He watched as Aaron coated his fingers with saliva, too, and two of them went straight into him. He winced. It felt uncomfortable, but nice at the same time, especially when the boy hit his prostate. It made him moan and arch his back once more, calling Aaron's name over and over his sweet spot was rubbed by those teasing fingers stretching him up.

"On your stomach, and lift your hips.", ordered the young one taking his hand away from the dhampir, who obeyed him.

Aaron chuckled when Lucian stood on his knees, lifting his hips as he was ordered, and rested his lower body on the softness of the bed, waiting to his lover to move. Aaron licked Lucian's rear before thrusting, hearing the low mew that came from him. The tightness welcomed the hard staff, relaxing seconds after it came in, and the boy started to move as soon as they loosed up. The dhampir purred loudly, moaning into the sheets that covered his mouth from his submissive position. If someone looked from the outside, it would be confused at the sudden change into Lucian, who always had a strong personality, not letting others step on him that easily. He was a very dominant male like everyone knew, but the sudden reaction towards his new mate and the hormones made him behave like that, and since it was Aaron, he didn't care if he was as submissive as a mere slave. If his mate was enjoying the flip of position, he was more than pleasant to accomplish it.

Lucian gasped when the tip of Aaron's member rubbed his prostate, creating an intense wave of pleasure that coated his body and made him moan his mate's name in a whisper. He tightened his teeth, feeling the hard and deep thrust of his partner, stretching his insides with force that made him felt numb at some point, but loved it. The intense pain he was feeling was mixed with intense pleasure, a succulent mix he seemed to like very well. Who would know that Lucian liked pain like that? Aaron thought with a grin on his face as he thrusted faster and harder as he could, hearing the loud moans of his lover who tried to catch his speed. The dhampir shuddered, his member dropping precum liquid into the bed, wetting it. He was so close and the constant hits into his prostate weren't helping his situation. Lucian called Aaron's name when he cumed, not expecting it since it was suddenly, caused by his mate that stimulated other places on his body that helped him to reach the orgasm quickly. Aaron finished inside him moments later, filling Lucian's behind and exiting him after that. The dhampir rested his body on the bed, panting hard after it. Aaron sat, exhausted. Even like that, he was far from satisfying himself completely and so was the dhampir, which climbed on his lap, kissing him deeply. Lucian opened his red eyes filled with lust and met Aaron's, which were like them. He smirked.

"I already warmed up.", the boy's eyes widened at the statement. Warmed up? Was that all just... warming up? He was joking, wasn't he?! Aaron knew he couldn't last much longer, or so he thought. It just passed an hour since they went to bed. Could he do it? For all night? The boy had his doubts. "Wanna keep my pace for a while? Or at last try?"

Even when his brain told him to refuse, he found himself nodding in agreement. He sure was going reject saying 'yes' to the horny dhampir on his lap, or maybe not.

Nero opened his lazy eyes, finding it was getting clearer. Half an hour ago, he stopped listening to his partner and new mate lovemaking and supposed they were already finished. The aphrodisiac's effect would wear off in any moment and Lucian wouldn't like to oblige Aaron to keep continuing even if his body needed it. Perrault was curled besides him, sleeping, with her wings folded on her body to keep her warmth. Nero perked his ears at the sound of water running in the bathroom. Leaving Perrault's side, he peeped in Lucian's room and found the dhampir lying on the bed, still panting after the last round of their mating. Nero thought that the one under the shower would be Aaron and then, he returned to his spot.

He couldn't believe how noisy the two of them were. He didn't expect his partner to moan like a whore, but he say it was only because Aaron was his mate. Nero thought of teasing Lucian with it once the mating cycle had finished. Yes, he could see already Lucian yelling and chasing him to hit him or throwing at him the nearest thing he had. The cat smiled at the mental image. But he was happy in the inside. Lucian went through the mating cycle without major problems such as ending badly injured after a battle for the territory or worst. Dumas took care of him pretty well and though him all he needed to know about the symptoms. Was he happy that he was turning into a vampire? As long as Lucian was happy being with Aaron, he didn't mind. If Lucian was happy, so was Nero. Being a vampire didn't really matter.

But, what about Toasty and the others? How would they react at such news?

The cat perked his ears and sniffed the air. Dumas was approaching the cottage, and the scent of sex was all over him. Another one that had a good laid, said to himself. He returned to the two questions into his mind. Toasty would definitely not like it, since he didn't like Lucian at all and his condition of half vampire, and Aaron sticking with him even less. Ernest would be shocked and, perhaps, would act on frustration about the situation and end up fighting with Lucian in order to bring Aaron back to them. Nero sighed. Such tight situation. He hoped that no one get hurt but the more he thought, the more he knew that Aaron would be the one getting more pain than anyone.

Perrault yelled when she saw Dumas a few meters away from the cottage and Nero couldn't believe how many marks his body had. He was sure that the former Duke was secluded to have a sexual partner after Rymer's death. Dumas prove himself wrong, but Nero was glad. Dumas was slowly accepting the fact that he, in the end, will seek and need the companion of a new mate, regardless of what he felt for Rymer in the past. Nero noticed how much he liked the former Duke now. Could he and Lucian become, maybe not friends, but at least companions? Valuable persons to relay on the other? He hoped so, because Aaron already trusted the vampire that much.

They entered the cottage to find the two loverbirds making out in the couch, something that Dumas didn't like at all. He kicked them out from it and started talking about their nights. Nero sat on the table, listening carefully and laughing at Aaron's shy expressions that lured Lucian to jump on him right there. Yes, he was really happy that Lucian remembered that wonderful feeling that he once felt for Ella. And more that it was Aaron. The boy just knew how to deal and treat the swordsman and Lucian was grateful he did. Perhaps it was that that made them both fall in love with each other.

In the middle of the chat, he watched how Lucian grabbed Aaron and rushed towards their room again. He felt sorry for the boy, knowing that the next night wasn't going to be free from the toys Lucian would use in him, thanks to the always observant Dumas. He knew the former Duke did it on purpose, but sometimes was too mean to them. Nero blinked in surprise at the feeling of Dumas' hand on his head, petting him softly. That was weird. Perhaps the vampire wanted him as new companion, like Perrault? He could only imagine. The other what he said missed it, as he was too absorbed into the pleasant feeling that he felt when Dumas rubbed under his chin.

His sensitive ears caught a soft, flapping sound he knew too well. He stood up, moving his ears into the right direction, to catch as much as that sound he could. He moved the tip of his tail, concentrated. He sniffed the air, noticing the scent of Alexander. Nero cursed out loud, flying from the cottage with Perrault behind him. But the Sun made it difficult to spot the yellow and purple owl they knew very well.

"We have to find him, now.", the black cat said.

"Come this way, his scent is strong.", Perrault said, flying forwards where Alexander came before retreating.

They found him rather quick and the owl stopped in the air when he found himself cornered by the two cats.

"What are you doing here?", asked Nero.

"Toasty sent me to look up for Aaron. He was concerned about him.", Alexander noticed Perrault behind him and stopped flying backwards.

"You can't go back and tell him where he is hiding. Toasty will screw up everything!", yelled the dark Terrennial.

"Then what do you want me to do? Even if he ends up screwing all, he deserves to know how the boy is doing, like Aaron deserved to know how Lucian was doing up here.", Nero didn't respond. Alexander was right. "Would help in anything you coming with me and tell him how the situation is up here?", suggested the owl instead.

"Perhaps.", said the black cat. He looked at Perrault. "I will go with Alexander to talk with Toasty. Tell Lucian I will come back near midnight."

"Alright.", she said and flew to him. Surprisingly, she hugged him. "Take care.", was the last thing Perrault said before flying back to the cottage.

Nero shook his head. Things were really changing between them.


	6. Chapter 6

**(Fixed some mistakes, Re-Upload.)**

**I should have updated last Friday but I was too tired after running from here to there. Gods, I hate school.**

**Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad you like the story so far. **

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6

Ernest yawned. The sun was rising as the patrol ended for that night. He and his group were heading back to the Guild, hoping to get a nice breakfast before dropping dead on their beds. That night was exhausting. New Culiacan seemed to never empty of monsters and Ernest forced a retreat when the first sun rays started to illuminate the remains of the Dark Castle. No one of his men wanted to stop, but Ernest knew they were tired and needed a nice rest. During the day, he could ask another group to finish what they started.

He didn't find Aaron or Lucian in New Culiacan. He wouldn't hide there either, it was too empty, too risky for the young human and there wasn't enough food for him. All what they found were rotted fruits, rotted meat and vanquished drinks still inside their unopened bottles. Definitely Lucian would not risk Aaron's life out there. He hoped that either Bea or Kay came up with something. Maybe Toasty would come with something, seeing how much he wanted to boy back. Ernest wanted Aaron stay in the Guild too, just for the boy's safety. The man knew too well how dangerous vampires are in those specific nights.

His thoughts came to Lucian once more. Even when he was a dhampir, the old Sartana that it's still inside the dark swordsman never changed. He still was bad mouthed, arrogant, impatient, taking risks. Ernest smiled. He had to admit he was a bit jealous of the way Sartana always saw life. Always getting the better of each passing day, as it was his last one, talking with the others gunslingers, going into long walks, practicing in the Guild with his favorite guns; Witch and Bomber. Ernest also was jealous of how good Sartana was with the Solar Guns, mastered them all even when he was an explosive expert. No wonder why Witch and Bomber were his favorites. Sartana loved to help others in their problems, especially when the rookies seemed to have problems holding the Solar Guns, and liked to demonstrate himself to others, saying to them how good he was. Perhaps that kind of self love was what attracted Ella to him.

The young woman was a bit shy but she had a passion about helping others to get a new home or enough food for their family after each rampage of the vampires that destroyed everything in their path, which amused Sartana to no end. Why would she dedicate her life when she could perfectly help the gunslinger kill the ones that were making others life miserable? Sartana once asked her about it, and Ernest was there too, since he and Sartana were good companions, not close friends but the two of them were tolerable with the other. Besides, Ernest had also a crush on Ella and wanted to see if he could get her before Sartana, even if his feelings for the woman weren't too clear for him.

"Because I like it.", she answered. "It's actually a nice feeling to see that you can give what you have and help others, seeing how they need it."

"Wouldn't be better for them to came to the Guild and help us? The faster we get rid of vampires the better.", said Sartana. Ernest was about to reply when she laughed. "What?", said the gunslinger man, lightly annoyed.

"Not everyone has that natural talent you have with weapons, Sartana. Perhaps you and Ernest, and Kay and Trinity are good with them, but some people even practicing day by day, they will never master it or get better in what their are doing.", she sighed and sat on the chair, resting. She has been working all day long. "For example, even if you are good with your weapons, you will never be as good as Trinity in infiltration.", Sartana blushed in embarrassment. Ernest chuckled. It was true. Sartana really sucked for infiltration missions, since he always grew too anxious about attacking and killing the monsters in the dungeon that they ended up being spotted thanks to his passion. Upon this, Trinity forbids him to go to any infiltration mission. "Don't give me that look! You know better than me is true."

Sartana grunted and left. Ernest and Ella watched him leave.

"Deeply inside him, he admires you for what you are doing here.", said Ernest looking at her. He sat next to the tired woman, who smiled.

"It's hard for him to show or express his feelings to others. I admire Sartana and you for what you are doing in the Guild.", this time, Ernest blushed. He thanked his dark skin to prevent the redness to show, but somehow, Ella noticed but didn't say anything. "The work you are doing is really hard and risky, seeing as one day you may not return to the Guild anymore."

"Don't worry about that. Sartana is too difficult to beat; even strong vampires had their time with him in battle."

"What about Earl's moves?", asked the woman, seeing how Ernest got into the subject.

"It's hard to picture what will be his next move, since it seems he not only wants to fight Lord of Destruction, but he also wants to take over New Culiacan.", explained Ernest. Ella stood up. "You should rest a bit more. You have been working all day."

"I can't, Ernest. There are still people who needs my help out there.", she paused, watching from the other side of the window. Then, she smiled. "Come. You have to see this."

The gunslinger man stood up too and walked to her side, smiling when he saw Sartana helping a family that just arrived with their belongings. It was a very odd sight, but it made Ernest admire Sartana even more. The man sure was filled with surprises. Just like the present. Lucian had still that passion that moved his body, something that he learn from Ella but didn't want to practice at seeing how much pain to his broken heart brought. But the presence of Aaron made the pain go away and he started to behave like the old Sartana, the one that Ernest has known all his life. He just hoped that Lucian didn't transform into a full vampire. It would bring a lot of doubts into his duty as gunslinger from the Guild.

"Rest well, guys, you deserve it.", said Ernest to the others. The rest of them smiled and nodded, disappearing in the stairs or in the elevator to go to their rooms. "Ah, Bea.", he said at the sight of the tired, blond woman. She was sitting on the main room of the Guild, with the Witch next to her. "How it went?"

"Boring. The Aqueduct is so dark, but it wasn't that infested like Thirteenth Street or New Culiacan, so we got lightly bored. Besides, without light we ended up walking in circles a few time.", Ernest sat next to her and a rookie came to them and offered coffee. Both of them thanked him. "We didn't find Lucian or Aaron, and Kay hasn't come back yet. Hopefully, he will bring news.", she took a sip of her coffee.

"Have you seen Master Toasty?", Bea shook her head. "Maybe he is still outside."

"Doing what? He has poor night vision.", said the woman. Ernest couldn't help himself and smiled. "Musing?"

"Perhaps.", agreed Ernest. "Aaron told me he often does it when something is concerning him."

"I thought you knew him more time than him.", said Bea lightly surprised.

"That doesn't mean I know Master Toasty that well. Trinity used to, since Master Toasty always hanged with him.", answered the man, drinking his coffee. "Glad to know you are safe."

Bea laughed. Ernest's stomach gave a light twitch in excitement. He loved Bea's laugh.

"You worry too much, Ernest.", she said. "I'm not the idiot rookie anymore."

"True, but sometimes you forget to think before going into a mission.", the woman blushed in embarrassment.

"A bad habit, I guess."

Ernest remembered that Sartana used to do that a lot.

"Well, you should be more careful. One of this days it well get you killed.", warned the skin tanned man, standing up. He took his Dragoon in hand, leaving the empty mug on the table. "Will you?"

Bea smiled and Ernest thought he was going to melt right away.

"I will try. But be careful you too, alright?", he nodded and walked away.

Bea thought how much she would miss Ernest if he died.

Toasty was floating back to the Guild. He spent the night on the roof of the Vambery Tower and when the first sun rays hit him, he woke up. He needed to be back into the Guild and talk with Ernest and the others to see if they found traces of Aaron or Lucian. He highly doubted it, but he wanted to be sure the boy wasn't in those places to start a plan and getting inside the mountain forest to search there.

When he returned, the rookies told him that only Ernest and Bea returned, and both of them went to sleep. Toasty patiently waited for Kay's arriving. The dog-man entered the Guild, looking tired, grumpy and wounded. Kay took sight of Toasty and rubbed his temples before saying that he didn't find anything concerning Aaron and, if he excused him right now, was going to sleep. Toasty let him be, and rushed out of the Guild from the nearest window, to sit on the roof of the building.

The light Terrennial tried to calm himself. Aaron should be alright, he was a smart kid even if he acted dumb sometimes. He had his weapons, he knew how to hide, how to fight. Toasty let out a groan. He needed to know where and how he was! It was something he promised Trinity before dying, that he, along with Ernest and Kay, would take care of Aaron. Besides, Alexander hasn't come back yet and that was frustrating him more. He hoped that the owl wasn't hurt or something.

He returned to the Inn in Acuna and stayed on its roof all morning, just watching how Acuna woke up that bright day. He did nothing on the roof not even thinking about Aaron or related. He tried to relax, keep his mind in blank all the morning but failed, as seeing how concerned was about Aaron's safety. Toasty was about to leave the Inn and return to the Guild when two shadows covered him from the sun. He looked up and saw Alexander and, with surprise, Nero.

"You shitty cat!!", yelled Toasty to the black cat. "You made Aaron go to the mountains to see that stupid dhampir!"

"Hey, calm the fuck down!", answered the dark Terrennial, already pissed. "He wanted to go; he had the right to go!"

"It is dangerous!", Toasty floated to be face to face with Nero, forgetting about Alexander. "How could you let him go up there when vampires are in heat?! Only an idiot would go to the wolf's mouth like that!!"

"You don't think it twice if you have to help a friend.", said Nero and Toasty froze, remembering that sentence. It was the same the black cat said to Sartana when he awoke from his coma, eleven years ago. "Aaron was too worried about Lucian, knowing the situation like we do. He wanted to help Lucian through his transformation, and you have no right to prevent that."

"Wait, what?", this time, it was Alexander who interrupted. "Is the dark swordsman transforming into a vampire? Was he bitten?"

"No.", answered Toasty, getting more irritated. "Nero slip from Perrault and shared his powers with Sartana, making him a dhampir back then. The eyepatch prevented the powers to take over his body and change him into a vampire, but since he trained for ten months without it, the dark powers are claiming his body to transform it for once."

"Oh, now I know why you were so worried about Aaron.", said the owl. He looked at Nero. "Either way, you shouldn't have taken the boy up there.", the black cat groaned and Toasty smiled in victory. "And you shouldn't have acted the way you did.", ended the Terrennial looking at the sunflower. This time, Nero smiled. "Was Aaron's choice to go?"

Nero and Toasty said 'yes' and 'no' at the same time, and Alexander sighed when the two of them started to argue once more. That day was going to be a hard one.

The owl succeeded into calming both opposites for a while. It was already three in the afternoon and Alexander suggested going and seeing Ernest to tell them how Aaron was doing. Nero accepted, since it was his main reason of coming down, while Toasty was still grunting about how careless was the cat for letting a young human go by himself into the mountains.

They ignored each other as Ernest came in sight into the common room of the Guild. The man was still tired, but his duty woke him up. He sat on the chair and noticed the tension between the cat and the sunflower, but didn't ask anything. Alexander was the one telling him what happened and when he finished, he let Nero talk about the situation in the cottage. He talked firstly on Lucian's transforming and how it was erasing his human memory. There was a high chance that when they saw him, the dhampir would not remember who they were. Ernest felt his heart give a twitch. Yes, that made him sad. He cared a lot for Sartana and he still did. He was also relieved to know that Aaron was safe but didn't like the idea of the former Duke being with both of them. Even when Nero assured him that Dumas wasn't that bad, Ernest still suspected from him not knowing how Lucian ended asking for his help, but seemed logical due to his current condition.

"Did...", said the man. He wanted to know, after all. "Did Aaron mate with Lucian?", asked. If it was the case, he and the other gunslinger would have to move with a lot of precautions.

"Yes, he did.", answered the cat with a sigh.

"What?!", yelled Toasty. "How could you let that happen?! That's going to help the dark powers to keep corrupting Lucian's body!!"

"Damn it! Aaron doesn't fucking care if Lucian is a dhampir, a human or a vampire as long as he is with him! Can't you fucking see that?", screamed the black cat back. He was getting tired of Toasty's selfishness. "Or are you jealous of their relationship?"

And with that, Toasty snapped.

He glowed in a bright, yellow light. The Terrennial had transformed into a human shape, the same one that Aaron adopted when he and Toasty traced. He called a spell and shot Nero to the nearest wall, chaining him up with his solar energy, seeing how the dark Terrennial hissed in pain at the constriction on his small, beast body. Alexander cried to Toasty to a stop, but he wasn't listening, not even to Ernest's begs on letting the black cat go, who was gasping quickly for air to fill his lungs.

"Where is Aaron?", asked the Terrennial, not paying attention to the other ones inside the common room. He growled when Nero smirked.

"Even if you slice my cheeks open, I will not say it.", snarled the cat back. He mewed in pain when Toasty hit him again. Alexander's pleads ringing in the air. "Why are you so mad?! Can't you see that this is what Aaron wants?"

"Can't you see that he is a vampire hunter?!", yelled Toasty back. Finally, Nero and Alexander understood why he was so angry about. "And he falls and mates with the creatures he hunts and kills! How do you want me to react?"

"Lucian didn't born as a vampire, you know that too well. Aaron fall for him not for what is he, but for how is he.", replied Nero, lightly more relaxed even when his body ached in pain. Toasty seemed to have relaxed too, since the cat felt that the energy wasn't as strong as when he hit him.

"I don't care about that! I'm trying to picture how will be his life after Lucian becomes a full vampire! Did he think of that? Did he think that he was going to be chased down, because he has a vampire mate, a vampire that kills humans just to drink their blood? Or hunts them down because they 'felt like to'? Who will protect him from those shadows? Who will protect him for the gunslingers?", Nero didn't talk for a few moments. Toasty let his energy disappear and the cat fell to the floor, hissing in pain. Then, a cage with solar bars formed around him, caging him up. "Do you understand now, Nero? Why I was so... seclude to let them be?"

"You are being harsh again, Toasty.", said Alexander with caution. He didn't want to Toasty snap again.

"Alexander is right.", mumbled Nero from below. The light Terrennial's eyes were locked with his. "Lucian will not let anything happen to Aaron, which brings to the question you never answered."

"And what about Dumas?", said Toasty instead, avoiding the question once more.

Nero sighed. This was getting them to no where.

"Honestly, the Duke has changed a lot in these four years he been missing. And Aaron started to trust him up there, and seems that the Duke is slowly trusting the kid too, and Lucian surprisingly, even if Lucian doesn't want to have nothing with him."

"How he ended up helping Lucian? He is not the type of person to say 'yes' without receiving something back."

Nero clenched his teeth but not from pain.

"I can't."

"What?"

"I can't tell you.", said the black cat, flopping on the cage's floor, suddenly too tired to keep talking. "I promised Lucian and Dumas to not talk with anyone about this. I'm sorry Toasty, but I can't talk."

"Fuck!", he yelled, rushing in a ray of light from the common room window. Nero fainted in the cage.

The sun was setting, the cold winds blowing in the Guild's roof sent shivers into Toasty's back. He was sitting, watching the mountains in the horizon. He was still transformed, not really feeling like changing back to his plant form. He spotted dark, grey clouds on the mountains, guessing if those clouds would bring either a strong rainstorm or a blizzard. But for the looks, it seemed to be a blizzard. The wind was too cold to be a simple rainstorm. Toasty hoped wherever Aaron was, he would be safe enough to stand the blizzard.

He hoped, too, that Nero wasn't too injured from his earlier snap.

He didn't mean to, but he was too angry to think about he was doing. He suddenly changed into his human form and hit Nero, locking him with his solar energy knowing that the black cat was weak against it. Alexander was just trying to help the poor cat and he snapped at him, too, when he came to the owl asking for help. What type of reaction was that towards the one that offered his help? Toasty groaned, silently cursing himself. He was an idiot, one of the biggest idiots on the planet.

He hated to admit that Nero was right, and was jealous of Aaron's relationship with Lucian. The Terrennial thought it was going to be similar like it was with Trinity, like long time ago, but it seemed it wasn't that way. Even when Trinity and his son shared physical features, Aaron was far from being like his father in what personality respected. He was a lot like his mother but sometimes Toasty felt like he was with Trinity once again. Maybe it was for that that he was so mad about the boy being with the dhampir, a thing that brought him to one question he asked himself yesterday night. What would been Trinity's response? What would been his words for the matter? Would the man let his single son go and mate a dhampir that was close to becoming a full vampire? If the dhampir would be another but Lucian, was there still a chance for Aaron to be at its side? Or it was only because it was Lucian? Toasty groaned again. He needed to calm down before he fry his brains with all that deep thinking. But couldn't help it and kept musing.

Ernest seemed, quiet about it. He didn't say anything when Nero said that Aaron mated Lucian. Was he scared about their fights? That would have prevent him to say anything related to the matter. Toasty knew that Ernest have to leave the Terrennial alone when he was too mad about a certain subject, knowing that he would snap anytime without motive, like he did earlier. He still needed to apologize to Alexander for treating him like that.

Toasty blinked in confusion upon feeling another force on the roof. When he turned, he saw the human shape of the ice Terrennial, her three-fox tails waving softly at the wind. Regardless of the others, her form was naked and didn't mind the lustful gazes she received from other males. Her body was human, like his, but her feet were canine alike just like her fox face, that watched the horizon, more precisely, the dark clouds that were coming closer.

"What brings you up here, Ezra?", asked Toasty. Ezra was a valuable friend and sometimes he went to see her when he couldn't talk about certain subjects with Aaron or Ernest.

"The storm.", she answered. The female fox turned her gaze from the storm and took a look at Toasty. "It's a strong one, and I fear for the young one and his mate in the mountains."

The light Terrennial stood up and walked to her, matching her gaze on the dark clouds.

"How strong is? Enough to bring down a cottage?", asked Toasty.

"It will depend of where the cottage is placed. If it has natural protection of the trees and rock formation, we should not worry, but we must be sure that is that way."

"And Nero knows if is safe enough.", whispered the Terrennial before sighing. "I shouldn't have snapped at Nero like that."

"You shouldn't have done anything of what you did.", answered Ezra and Toasty whined.

"The last reproach I needed is the one coming from you."

"Well, you deserved it.", said the female fox closing her eyes and twitching her tails. "You are mixing feelings and that is not a good idea.", Toasty looked at her not catching what she was saying. That made Ezra sighs in irritation. "You think that Aaron is like his father and that is not true, but seeing how you get carried away with the feeling that Trinity is back once more besides you is proofs that you haven't get over his dead yet. When are you letting Trinity go for once? You can't be like this forever or you will lose him again, seeing as Aaron is his only heritage.", she stopped him for talking. "Let's go back. Nero should be awake by now and we must ask him if the cottage is safe enough to stand a blizzard of this magnitude."

Toasty nodded, following Ezra and turning into their smallest, beast and plant form. They both entered from an open window and floated to the common room once more. There, they found Bea and Ernest talking with each other with Nero's cage in between. The cat was healthier after the fight and was now lying on the cage's floor, paying no attention to his surroundings. His sensitive nose noticed the other Terrennial's scents and made him open his eyes and lock gaze with them. Bea was the first one to ask Toasty what he wanted and the sunflower floated to both gunslingers, followed by Ezra.

"Nero, are you feeling better?", Ezra was the one that cut with the awkward silence that formed in the room.

"Just a bit.", said the cat, wings folded on his back and tail curled besides his aching body. "May I know your reason for being here?"

"A blizzard is coming this way, taking its path down on the mountain.", Nero sighed. "I want to know if the cottage where the boy and his mate are staying can resist a storm like this. Otherwise, we should let them know and see where they can stay to not interrupt the dhampir's mating cycle."

"I... don't think Lucian will like the idea of leaving the cottage.", said the cat. "I really don't know if the cottage can resist blizzards."

"Do you trust me enough to go there and see it for myself?", asked the ice fox.

"You don't know the path to it."

"I will bring either you or Alexander to show me."

"No, the cat stays here.", said Toasty. He didn't want to Nero go. Being captive like this, Aaron will have a reason to climb down from the mountains and, hopefully, he will obligate him stay in sight, meaning that he will have to stay either in the Inn's room he and Lucian rented or in the Guild.

Ezra sighed, irritated once more. But couldn't blame him. He wasn't going to change from a minute to another; he had to find it on its own that the way he was behaving wasn't the right one, especially towards Aaron. Nero thought about it too, but didn't reply; knowing that arguing for the matter once more would only get him a painful headache.

"Alright, I will take Alexander.", said the female fox. "Just try no to kill Nero while I am away."

"For what kind of creature you take me, Ezra?", Toasty was really offended by her words.

"Oh, I know you better than Trinity did and I know you will do everything to get the information from Nero. Alexander knows it too, and that's why he is staying as far as he can from you."

Toasty whined again and the female fox smirked in victory, knowing very well the next phase Toasty will come with.

"I hate you so much.", yes, definitely Ezra knew Toasty way too much.

It was already seven in the evening, and Alexander was surprised by how dark the forest was with the thick mantle of dark clouds over it. Ezra had warned him that the winds would be blowing harsher and faster, but he didn't know it was going to be like a hurricane. He now truly feared that the cottage wasn't safe for the ones living in it. Even the vampire that always were there for the mating season weren't there anymore, as seeing how dangerous would be to stay in the open upon a blizzard like that.

"There.", said the owl when they came at the cottage and the fox immediately knew it wasn't going to stand too much in the wild storm. "Are you sure you want to sneak in?"

"Of course. I had enough temper to bitch on Stoker when he held me captive I will have enough guts to yell at the idiot of Lucian if he refuses.", Alexander couldn't help it and chucked.

The fox changed into her human form and walked at hot speed to the cottage, knocking on the door several times. The owl took his human form too, which its height surpassed Ezra's by two heads. He had a black, yellow and purple hakama, with sandals and a katana resting on his hips. His purple hair was tied in a short ponytail and his eyes were as clear as the sky, with some yellow make up on the eyelids. His face reflected the expression of a young man on his twenties and was really attractive. The door in front of them opened and Perrault gasped in surprise but let them step in.

"Good evening, former Duke.", said Alexander bowing. Ezra bowed too, not saying anything. Dumas blinked at the sight of both Terrennials knowing that something was wrong when Perrault let them in. "Where is young Aaron and Lucian?"

"Lucian is out, and Aaron is still sleeping.", said Dumas from the couch. "What's the matter?"

"There is a blizzard coming this way and I am afraid that this cottage will not stand it.", explained the female fox, seeing how the vampire stood up with a concerned look on his face. "I know you and Lucian will not like it, but you must move and rest in another safer place."

"I know.", replied the vampire. "What happened to Nero?"

Alexander sighed.

"He and Toasty fought, and Toasty damaged him pretty bad. He is now held in a cage and Toasty is waiting for him to split out your location.", Dumas laughed.

"Does that idiot know that Nero will not give up the information even if he had to die to protect it?"

"Apparently, no, he doesn't.", said Ezra smiling too. "Or he does, but doesn't want to believe it."

"Well, leaving that aside, how fast the storm will strike?"

"Mm, in about twelve hours. Perhaps sooner."

"I need both of you to look up for a place where we can hide but is comfortable enough for us to be until the mating cycle is over.", said Dumas while opening Lucian's room to start waking Aaron up to tell him about the circumstances.

"But, you already know a place to stay.", said the fox following the former Duke.

"The castle is in ruins. New Culiacan is not in shape to let us live there.", replied the vampire shaking the boy's shoulders softly.

"I wasn't referring to New Culiacan, neither to the Aqueduct or Vambery Tower.", before the vampire could talk, she continued. "The Hunting Mansion is a perfect place to stay, seeing that the gunslingers aren't patrolling it anymore, as Ernest told me."

Dumas became silent. Come back to the Hunting Mansion? To his painful past? To Rymer? No, he didn't want to! It would bring those memories once more, those feelings he wanted to forget. He was trying to get it over and it seemed he was going to be chained to that for the rest of his life.

"Never knew you were living here, Earl.", said a soft male voice from the doorway. The presents looked up at the sight of the grinning, albino vampire that stood there. "Since you haven't been out yet, I decided to come to you.", Nish said with a smile on his face.

"Great.", mumbled Dumas. Unknown to him, Nish was going to be a very important person in this situation.

"What do you want? Can't you see I am trying to sleep?", came the angry voice of Aaron. Nish seemed curious about the single human boy in the room, but didn't ask since Dumas was already on him.

"I know kid, but something had come up. There is a blizzard coming this way and Ezra said the cottage will not stand it."

"Great.", whispered the boy and the vampire laughed. Was Aaron being influenced by him or by Lucian? Dumas only imagined. "Where should be going?"

"Hunting Mansion.", said Ezra without hesitation. "Ernest told me gunslinger doesn't patrol it anymore and is a nice place for all of you to stay."

Aaron seemed to put together the name of the place and Rymer, and looked at Dumas. The vampire shrugged and stood, telling him to grab his things and call for Lucian. The boy bit his bottom lip and felt sorry for Dumas, once more. The former Duke stepped outside the room and ignored Nish, but the vampire followed 'Earl' along, saying he was going to help into packing his things, too. And, amazingly, Dumas didn't yell back.

"Young Aaron.", said Alexander. The boy looked at him. "Please, hurry."

"Oh, yes. Sorry."

"Don't be. Do you allow me to go and search for your mate?", asked the wind Terrennial, bowing. Aaron felt like the owl beast was talking to his master and the boy didn't know why he was acting that way. He started grabbing his things and put them in the bag.

"Of course.", answered and the owl beast retreated from the room, leaving him alone with Ezra. The boy looked at her. "Why he bowed like that?"

"I wouldn't know.", admitted the fox, helping the boy with his things. "But my closest guess is because he admires you.", Aaron smiled.

"It's good to know that."

Since Aaron didn't have many things to pack, he went with Ezra and helped Dumas out, finding that Nish was talking quietly with him even if the former Duke wasn't in the mood to talk back. That didn't bother the albino vampire, who still talked with him. Lucian returned with Alexander, curious about the new vampire in the cottage. He didn't ask and when they were ready, the left the cottage and walked down the mountain to a better place to start racing down. The wind Terrennial grabbed the bags while Lucian helped Aaron to get on his back and, when where ready, they raced down the forest, following Dumas as he lead the way to the Hunting Mansion.

No one talked in the path towards the mansion. The only sound was the winds harshly taking it on the trees and the steps each vampire and Terrennial did when they landed, jumped or stepped on the ground. It was getting colder quickly and Aaron already felt it. He was shivering but rejected that Lucian stopped to get him some warm clothes for him. Their priority was to get to their target before the storm hit without notice or the gunslinger found them in their way to the Hunting Mansion.

Dumas kept his gaze on the forest's path, running from to the others; he used to come with Rymer some of those nights to have a little fun with themselves and other vampires, too. And he didn't like the idea of going back to the Hunting Mansion, where most of his memories were locked. He was trying to get over it and the past was now seeking him once more. Dumas thought that it wasn't to never let him go, always captive with strong chains to that painful past. His red eyes moved to the left and saw the blurring, white hair of Nish. The vampire noticed it and smiled to him. The former Duke found himself blushing for a second time that he was with Nish and quickly lock his eyes on the road. What was with him? He wasn't looking for a new mate so, why was he lightly nervous when Nish was around him? He didn't feel those butterflies in his stomach, the same feeling when he and Rymer were dating, and shouldn't worry that he was falling for someone who just met, especially after a rough, wild, passionate sex. Dumas noticed how many adjectives he added to the sex he and Nish had the previous night.

He had to admit that Nish was handsome, seductive, had a nice body. He was taller than him but didn't mind that aspect. He seemed to be lightly carefree and surely interested in the former Duke. Dumas wondered why. Was because he wanted another round? Was because he wanted to mate him? Couldn't be. He told Nish that he wasn't looking for a new mate. Was he ignoring that rule? Was Nish just trying to get new companions? Or just numbers in his list to prove that he was a winner? Well, almost every vampire on the planet was promiscuous due to the mating cycle so Dumas didn't care about that. He did that too before defeating Ratatosk, seeing the others as mere numbers like many other did.

If Nish wanted another round, he would leave seeing as they were moving to a safer place due to the blizzard. But he stayed. If Nish wanted to mate him then he surely would go after him and try to seduce him to mate with him, but the albino vampire wasn't talking to him or trying anything to get his attention. Perhaps he would when they are settled in the Hunting Mansion. Dumas would have to wait to see what happens then. But the smile he got from Nish... The former Duke blushed again, unable to help himself. It was so embarrassing! He! Once the strongest of vampires blushing in front of others! He sighed, unaware that the albino heard him, and kept thinking about the situation. There was still a long road to Hunting Mansion; he could keep musing about the subject as long as the road endured.

He wasn't sure that he would be ready for a new mate. It's true that four years passed after the incident, but it was a small amount of time since that and now. The wound was still open, not bleeding, yet it was in pain. He still cried sometimes for his dead, he still wandered through his happy memories. Dumas was sure that he wasn't ready for a new mate. Why would Nish try? Was because he didn't care? Was because he was too desperate for one? Besides, the vampire would know who he was by the sole codename he gave him. Earl was his name when he was still under Ratatosk's orders and everyone knew about him. Every vampire feared him and when he was defeated and taken from the castle, when he refunded in the community, he was highly rejected and couldn't go back after that. No vampire wanted a weak leader. No vampire wanted to be with a weak partner. Why Nish was with him? Why Nish wanted him? Why Nish seemed to care a bit?

Was life giving him another chance? A new beginning in his life, with a new mate to guard over him and Dumas to look at? The idea was comforting. To have a strong pair of arms around his body, silently saying 'I'm here, with you. Don't worry about anything', of hearing those three little words being whispered into his ears, of those lips kissing softly on his neck, of those same lips claiming his in a chaste kiss. It was too good to be true and Dumas noticed, for the first time in his life, that he was afraid.


	7. Chapter 7

**(Fixed some mistakes, Re-Upload.)**

**Wow, never seen that kind of reaction from a reader, at last not with my fics. xD It really surprised me to read your review sayings those things. I'm very glad you are liking the story. **

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7

The Hunting Mansion was quiet. The monsters guarding it walked away at the sight of the group that stepped on the huge forecourt. Dumas noticed a lot of different kind of Hounds walking and guarding the entrance. He didn't remember them being there, since Rymer didn't like them. Ignoring the hounds, they continued to the main cause. Aaron was still on Lucian's back, not really wanting to get down. He felt too comfortable on him and the dhampir seemed to not mind at all. Ezra and Perrault were helping Alexander with the bags and Nish walked closer to the dhampir, who eyed him. The albino knew that he was being warned to not touch or come any closer to the young human.

"It's really surprising to see a human with vampires.", said Nish with a friendly smile. Dumas added to the list that he was too sociable. "What is your story?"

"Well, this grumpy dhampir that is carrying me...", he heard Lucian growl and Aaron giggled. "...was my working partner. Since little, I was raised in the Guild and became a gunslinger, a vampire hunter to go and kill the ones like you, like him.", he pointed to Dumas, who didn't pay attention to the talk. "Then, I met him when we were trying to save two of our comrades from the viscounts."

"Edgard and Virginia, right?", asked the albino. The boy nodded.

"Yeah. I wanted to go alone in the Aqueduct, too worried about them and then... Bea spotted him and after some chat, I came along with him. At first we wanted to rip our heads off, because we couldn't stand each other.", Lucian smiled at the memory. "He was too independent and sometimes forgot that I was with him.", Aaron blushed deeply. "I don't know when, but our feelings started to change from a mere friendship. We grew very close to each other, not really knowing that we were so in love. Just yesterday we dared to face those feelings and I acceded to mate with him, seeing how I needed him."

Nish laughed softly.

"You are an interesting human.", Aaron looked up at the albino. "Tell me, was your mate already what he is or did he born like this?"

"No. He used to be human, but in some tight circumstances he changed into a dhampir, not transforming completely into a vampire thanks to the eyepatch he wore for seven years."

"Why he started to have the symptoms?", Dumas added that Nish was too curious for his own good.

"He went to train to master his weapons and bring them to their maximum level, but in order to do that, he had to let his dark powers free."

"That was what doomed him, right?"

"Sorta.", Nish blinked in confusion but Aaron smiled. "I don't care what he is as long as he doesn't change who he is, I will be with him until my life ends. Some will see it as a curse, as a bad ending to their lives, but me, being his friend for a long time, stopped to care about that.", he tightened his arms around Lucian's neck and nuzzled on his cold skin. The dhampir let out a purr and smiled at the gesture and feeling. "He is all I need."

"So cute.", said Nish with a big smile. "It's really hard to see humans like you, which respect damphires and vampires."

"Well, it took me time to respect them.", admitted the boy that blushed in embarrassment. This time, Dumas snorted, looking back to see him. "Yeah, yeah, don't see me like that. It was your entire fault, after all."

"Am I complaining about it?", said the former Duke, smiling. "Even if it was my fault, you seem happy. Do you trust me that much?"

"You could say."

Dumas stopped, his eyes widening.

"What?"

Aaron sighed.

"I said I trust you. If I compare your old self with your new self, you have changed a lot and now, you are more yourself than ever. Polidori tricked you with his mental traps and you could do nothing about it. I don't blame you for that."

"That means.... you forgave me? For all what I did? For... killing your father?", Dumas couldn't believe it. "You can't! You just can't base your.... thoughts after seeing me for the first time in four years! I may be the same as always!"

"You aren't.", this time was Lucian who answered. "If you learned to forgive me for killing Rymer, your mate, he can forgive you for killing his father. You did it, because it was an obstacle between you and the supreme power."

"How did you....?"

"He told me.", and looked up to Aaron. No one said their name yet. It wasn't safe with Nish around them. "And if I knew that Rymer was your mate I would took another path to you."

Dumas hissed angrily, turning his back to them.

"Yeah, sure! Do you believe I would buy that crap?! You would have killed him anyways!"

"I wasn't that cold hearted bastard you were back then, asshole!", shouted Lucian back. "I wasn't going to let you know how devastating is to lose that loved one! My problem was with you, not with Rymer! If he wanted to seek me after I killed you, he had the right to do it! Because it was the same thing I did when... when...", he stopped. He couldn't remember. Lucian clenched his teeth. He couldn't remember! Dumas seemed taken back at the sudden silence of the dhampir.

"What's the matter?"

"I...I can't....", Lucian shook in fear. Was he forgetting already? How much of his human memory the dark powers ate? "I can't remember that... her name..."

He felt Aaron hug him tightly from behind. The conversation ended right there and they kept walking to the mansion. Nish was now really curious about the incident and that the dhampir seemed to start forgetting. But it wasn't the time to ask about it. They were in pain and he felt it in the air. He would when either the cycle is finished or the dhampir turned into a full vampire.

The clouds were covering the night sky quickly, the full moon being hidden behind them. The stars disappeared with the thickness of the clouds and the wind blew faster and colder. Lucky to them, they were already inside the mansion that was as cold as outside, in the forecourt. Ezra and the vampires seemed to not notice it but Aaron, Perrault and Alexander shivered at the coldness making them remember that they were creatures that couldn't stand low temperatures. Dumas guided them to the second floor where the bedrooms were. He closed his eyes when they walked past Rymer's master bedroom, which was firmly closed, and opened the room after it. It wasn't as big as the master one but the king sized bed was enough for Aaron and Lucian to sleep on. It was dark, like the rest of the mansion, with dark wood floor and a carpet under the bed to prevent harming the fine wood under it. There was a big wardrobe and a drawer near the door of the bathroom. Two huge windows were covered with thick, obscure curtains that prevent the sunlight to go through them and into the room, protecting those with sensitive skin that were sleeping inside.

"Wow...", said Aaron when Lucian finally let him down. The boy looked around. The walls were painted in a dark crimson color and the ceiling was pure white. From it, it hanged a candelabrum with its candles that were not lighted. "This is... Oh, crap I have too....", he run and flopped on the bed, making a content sigh. "Oh, hell yes! This is completely awesome! I want a bed like this!"

Dumas snorted and left with Nish, Alexander and Perrault. Ezra stepped inside and left the bag on the drawer. Lucian had crawled on the sheets and hugged Aaron from behind, nuzzling his neck.

"Are you two staying here?", asked the female fox.

"Yes, definitely.", Aaron stood up violently almost hitting Lucian with his arms. "Wait! You aren't going to tell Ernest or Toasty about it, right?", Ezra shook her head. "Oh, thank you."

"Don't worry about them. Enjoy your time with Lucian. Between, you might light up the fireplace, seeing as the temperature will still decrease."

"What fireplace?", asked the dhampir, looking around.

"That one.", pointed Ezra. They both saw a hidden fireplace in the opposite wall of the bathroom's door. "I will try to get some wood for it with Alexander. You two rest for a bit."

"Hey, can you ask Perrault if she can bring some... food?", asked embarrassed Aaron. His stomach was growling in need of something to eat.

"I can go and bring it for you. Perrault will be busy and fussing around Dumas to care about right now.", said the dhampir, crawling off from the bed.

The ice Terrennial and the dhampir walked outside the bedroom, closing the door behind them. Aaron got up from the bed and went to the windows, opening the curtains. He was amazed with the sight of the forecourt in the night. The dim moonlight bathed everything in a silver light, giving the gardens a white marble look. The boy sat on the edge of the window and opened it. A cold breeze blew and Aaron' shivered. He popped his head out, spotting several hounds walking and sniffing in look for intruders. The giant spiders were calm, resting on the floor in groups, on the trees or on huge webs hanging from the statues. The crows seemed calm, too, a lot of them sitting on the bare branches of dead trees and on the statues along with the spiders. It was a really quiet night, one of the quietest Aaron had live.

It was interesting how the hounds didn't attack him when they entered the forecourt. Was because he was with the vampires? But then again, they would recognize Lucian's scent for the first time he came. Or it was changing since his body was changing as well? It also felt strange being there, in the other side of the battle. He was the only human capable of befriend vampires like that. Then, he remembered the book. Aaron rushed to his bag and opened it, taking out cloths and cloths until he found it. The boy sat on the window again and opened the book. He read the index, looking for a chapter that talked about humans and vampires befriending. The boy sat comfortable on the edge, crossing his legs, book on lap. The dim moonlight helped him to read the title of the chapter and then, proceed to read the content.

It was very rare for humans and vampires befriend but sometimes it happened. Under normal circumstances maybe not, so the most common cases were the ones in where vampires or humans are in danger and are saved by their opponents. This creates the situation of receive and give, meaning that in change of saving you, you will have to do or give me something in return. And vampires will give one of their most precious thing to the other; their friendship. In other cases, they are simple favors, simple tasks. Not every vampire sees humans as food, like not every human sees them as bloody monsters. There were cases in family groups growing side by side to each other and created strong bonds in their relations, a very deep reliance. Other cases, it grown very slowly but in the end, they respected each other, helping in what they could.

The writer started to explain a personal story in where, in his many trips, he managed to get along with the vampires he found in his way. Some of them where secluded to say something due to his condition as a vampire hunter (he had stopped doing it long time ago, though not everyone knew), but when they took a time to know the man better, they relaxed and sat, sharing with him some of their own stories to told.

Aaron smiled. So there was friendship after all. He, like most ignorant ones, thought that between vampires and humans there will be never such feeling like that. He knew that the war would never end, but as long as he had friends with him, the other didn't matter at all. He would protect them and help them in what he could. That's what really mattered. Not where are you from or, most important in this case, what are you. When two people really care for each other and get along well, physical differences are placed in second place.

He finished reading the chapter and placed the closed book on his lap once again. The sky was completely covered with the dark clouds but the wind stopped blowing long ago. He glanced around the room and found a clock over the fireplace. He got up, closed the window and walked to it. It was a quarter to nine. Where was Lucian? He should be back by now, and Ezra hadn't come back, too, and she was only going to look for wood. Aaron took a long, sleeved shirt and took off the one he was wearing and put that one on, leaving the other on the bed. He grabbed also Lucian's jacket and put it on. He thought of walking around a bit until the dhampir returned. When he stepped outside the room, he heard Dumas' voice from the opposite room. Without doing any noise, he stopped before the door, opening it lightly to hear.

"It's so unfair.", came the former Duke's voice. He seemed to be crying, because Aaron heard some sniffing and he knew it wasn't from the albino vampire.

"In a way, yes it is. But it was because of you, no one else."

"I fucking know that, Nish!!", yelled Dumas. "But sometimes I want to be with Rymer once more! And just be... like Aaron and Lucian! You have no idea how much I envy them.", Aaron bit his bottom lip. After all, Dumas was still angry with them regardless he said.

"Well, it had been four years now. I know is hard because I also lost several mates in my life thanks to the gunslingers, but you have to get it over. You will never be able to move on if you don't finish this for once.", came Nish's voice. It was warm, soft. That made Dumas sighs. "Do you know how to beat your fear? Taking a step forwards. You are still standing, not moving, not doing anything."

"I'm afraid of doing that step.", admitted the former Duke.

"Why? See it as a new opportunity in you life. You said it yourself it was a new stage in it. Why would you keep listening to this opportunity knock on your door? It will leave soon as it knows you will not respond.", there was some noises of fabric rubbing fabric and then Dumas sighing again. "It's ok, it's ok.", the vampire sniffed and Aaron heard him sob softly. "Was Rymer your first one? Ah..."

Aaron understood now why Dumas was so angry and sad. Rymer was his first love, the very first one in seeing him as how he was and love him for being so. He left, not wanting the vampires know he had been listening. The boy found the principal doors pretty quick and left the mansion, being welcomed by the darkness and coldness of the night. Aaron managed to see the little he could and made his way through the forecourt, thinking about what he heard. He was sure that the former Duke couldn't have forgotten them that easily, there was no way he could do that. Even the day he came to the cottage he seemed distant and not really wanting to get involved in their love relationship, as if the relation itself bring him pain, remembering thins he didn't want or feeling he didn't want to feel again. It was too much for his already broken heart.

The boy sat besides a column. The stone floor was cold against the fabrics of his clothes, but didn't pay attention to it. He understood how Dumas was feeling because he still missed his father, which was strange since he and Trinity couldn't spend time together as a family due to his position as leader of the Guild, position that took Ernest when Trinity died. He still wanted Trinity next to him, to talk to him, to hug him and play with him. Aaron thought if Lucian felt it after leaving with Nero, the first years of his lonely warrior path. The boy groaned. Of course he did! What kind of question was that?

A green hound stepped from behind the column and stopped at the sight of the silhouette leaning on the column. The beast walked quickly at it, finding only the young boy sitting there, with his face hidden on his knees. The hound whined and sniffed the human, making him lift his head.

"I'm ok, I'm ok.", assured Aaron, petting its head. The hound sat and opened its mouth, letting its tongue fall out of it. "What's up, boy? Tired of patrolling?", the beast whined again. "I will take that as a yes.", said the human smiling.

Several hounds accompanied Aaron in his lonely place. The red ones were warm due to his fire powers and the boy welcomed them gladly since the night was getting colder and colder. The blizzard was going to be a huge one. Aaron noticed that the once sleeping crows were now resting on the trees near him and the spiders seemed to do the same, as he spotted a few of them walking not so far from him and the hounds. Some of them were resting, curling besides the young boy, others patrolling. It was a very odd feeling. The boy never knew he could be that close to the creatures that were under the vampire's orders. How could it be?

Aaron tensed up when he saw a group of three or four Ghouls coming his way. The hounds seemed relaxed at them, like the crows and spiders but he wasn't. He let his hand travel under the jacket and looked for his gun, but the Knight wasn't there. The boy cursed out loud making some hounds lift their heads. Aaron decided to wait and if the Ghouls wanted to attack, he would either run or let the hound defend him, if they wanted to of course. He couldn't relay in the beast so quickly but had his hopes.

A group of crows cackled. The spiders stopped walking and quickly, they climbed to the trees and the statues. Some hounds stood up and left the boy with only four of them; a purple one, a green one, a blue one and a red one. And the Ghouls were a few centimeters from him but it seemed that they haven't felt him or saw him either. Aaron was intrigued by it. Ghouls could feel human's heat and breath so, why they weren't attacking him, like they do when they spot an intruder? The boy jumped in surprise when a crow landed on his shoulder. The bird, startled, cackled but landed on the boy again. Aaron looked at it. It was certainly big for a bird. Its feathers were as black as the night and its crimson eyes blinked a few times before returning the gaze. The boy lifted his hand carefully and petted the bird, amazed at how it was comfortable around him. Then, he looked at the hounds and petted the nearest one on its back. Perhaps the new born vampires felt that way when they were too confused about what is happening. The creatures would calm it down and would be by its side, as their nature calls, until the vampire is relaxed enough to think and live by his own, without the help of the creatures under its command.

Aaron smiled. He, somehow, had the power to tame those beasts and those beast were nice to him, wanting to obey and protect him. It was amazing! They didn't see that fearsome. They were like that because human needed to get inside the vampire's territory in order to kill them. The beasts only did their job as bodyguards of their master and there was nothing wrong in it. Sadly, most humans didn't see it that way.

Suddenly, the four hounds lifted their head almost at the same time. The crows resting near Aaron cackled angrily and the spiders were making webs between the trees. The boy stood up too, the crow on his shoulder left as he flew to its cackling group. An intruder, there was no other explanation at the sudden agitation in the beasts. He heard some hounds scream in pain and the familiar sound of the solar shots hitting meat and stone. Gunslingers! In the mansion! Aaron had to return and tell Dumas and Nish about it but, what about Lucian and Ezra?

Wait a minute.

What if the gunslingers were attacking both of them?

Aaron gasped in horror.

The hounds jumped in surprise when the boy started to run but they followed him soon, being followed by some spiders and crows, too. The Ghouls disappeared under the ground as they preferred to travel under it with their dark powers or hide in Aaron's shadow without him noticing it.

The shooting was getting louder and louder and Aaron reached the fighting place. There were at last fifteen gunslinger attacking fifty hounds at the same time. Dozens and dozens of crows attacked from the air but they were easily knocked down. The docile spiders were no where to be seen and some Ghouls had troubles in fighting against them. Aaron hid behind a tree and kneeled down, looking at the four hounds.

"I need you to go and tell Dumas about this, as fast as you can.", he said to the blue one. "Even if there are a lot of you fighting against them, I'm sure they will win anytime.", the beast turned around and left quickly, leaving blue flames on the ground that disappeared seconds after. Aaron peeped and saw a lot of killed crows on the ground. Half of the hounds were already gone and the Ghouls stopped coming from under the gunslingers. "Damn, I thought that Ernest didn't patrol this place anymore but... eh?"

Aaron noticed that the uniform they were wearing wasn't the one from the Guild he knew. Those people wore an armor similar to the Casket Armor but lighter and thinner, instead of two-colored uniform Ernest, Kay or Bea wore. They did wear the protecting glasses on their faces as they shot with their guns and they where not the Knight prototype all rookie and experienced members used. Bea, Ernest and Kay were an exception since they all inherited them from Sartana or Trinity seeing how attached were to them, especially Ernest and Kay. The ones being held from those people were lightly bigger and faster shooting.

A small, sphere of solar light hit the tree where Aaron was hiding and he yelped in surprise. The shot took a nice part of the tree. They were even stronger than his! One of the gunslinger spotted him, much to his dislike, and killed the last hound as he walked towards him. The remaining hounds, the ones that were with the boy, stood in between he and the enemy, growling angrily and showing their teeth.

"Wait, don't move!", said the man. "We will rescue you."

"No, no!", yelled the boy back.

"What? What are you saying?", the man was taken back at the response of Aaron. He didn't want to be saved? What was with him? "Listen, don't worry about the hounds. They will not attack you since we had attracted their attention."

"They would have attacked you already. They attack at any intruder in their master's land", answered Aaron, narrowing his eyes. The man grunted as he turned around, his back facing the enemy. The boy smiled. "Hey, rookie! Didn't your master teach you not to show your back to your enemy?", he asked but the man glared at him, not replying. "Novice, heh.", he added with a small laugh.

A taller man approached the other. He was muscled, his short, black hair covered with a funny cap. The man slipped his glasses on it and Aaron saw his bright, blue eyes. The man was, not only wearing the thin armor, but a long, double-barrel gun, too. The man walked to a safe distance between him and the hounds and looked at Aaron.

"You seem to know how the beasts behave.", said. "Are you a work boy from the vampires living here?"

Aaron noticed how the leader, as he assumed, said it in plural. Did he know about Dumas, Nish and Lucian? Did they see them come to the mansion? And they were fifteen of them... What to do? He had Lucian's mark on his neck. But on the right side. Aaron cursed.

"No, I am not. Who are you? You look like gunslingers, but not from the Guild of these lands.", asked after answering.

"Correct. We are gunslingers, or vampire hunters, and we are from the north towns.", said the leader. "Why are you here?"

"I would ask the same thing to you."

The man smiled, amused.

"We hunt vampires, didn't you hear?"

"I did hear. Lucky I'm not dumb.", answered Aaron with a provoking smile on his face. He was getting the leader's nerve too soon. And the boy found it entertaining. "I'm referring to why are you in these lands, seeing as you are from the north.", explained then.

"We received a call from the leader from the Guild, informing us that he needed reinforcements and we came to help."

Aaron was shocked. Did Ernest call them? Why would he do that? The Guild had less members than four years before? Maybe Ernest wanted to merge with the Guild in the north, seeing as no one joined it in four years. It was a wise choice in times like that.

"And I assume you are re patrolling all the places with no vampires left, right?", he had to buy time. He had to wait for Dumas and Nish to come and see what they were going to do about the situation.

"Well, a spy told us that a group of vampires left the mountain due to the incoming blizzard.", the boy cursed. So Lucian was right about feeling watched from the ground and as always, Dumas ignored it. "And was walking to the abandoned mansion. You should left for your safety. This is no place for you to be."

"Just because I'm young doesn't mean I can't take care of myself.", replied the boy. "I'm a gunslinger too, you can believe it or not, and I am not here against my will."

The leader relaxed but didn't drop his weapon like many other of his group did.

"So you are out of mission, like us?", Aaron thought if he shouldn't had added the gunslinger part. "Are you from the local Guild?"

"Yes.", answered seeing a blue hound walking softly towards the new intruders. He hoped it was the one he sent after Dumas and Nish. "Ernest is still in charge after my father died and I understand his will of asking for other Guild's help, seeing how poor is ours after the defeat of the Immortal Polidori.", the beast stopped, hiding behind a tree.

"Father? You mean Trinity?", Aaron nodded. "Oh, holy heavens! Are you Aaron, by any chance?"

Another screw up.

"Yes."

Well done, Aaron, well done!

"Then, why haven't you fought against those hounds? They shouldn't be that hard for you."

"I'm... in a rather tight situation.", he could use the excuse that he was too, behind those vampires. "You see, I was in mission like I said, but I was taken back by the vampires who stole my gun.", explained slowly. The hounds seemed to understand his plan but didn't move. Aaron wanted to know if Dumas and Nish were hiding somewhere. He would never say how desperate was for the former Duke's help in those instants.

"That doesn't explain why you didn't want us to kill them.", said the leader, suspecting.

"Because they were trained from puppies by my dad.", Aaron swore he heard a well known snicker, but couldn't say if it was from the gunslingers or from Dumas, hiding somewhere. "That's why I don't want you to shot, the will only obey my orders and they will attack if they sense I'm in danger or you are a threat for me."

"Like a bodyguard?", asked the leader. Aaron didn't like the way he was looking at him now. He knew he screwed up again.

"More or less.", he gasped when the leader aimed at him. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Didn't your 'father' teach you that hounds only respond to vampire's orders?"

Aaron wanted to die. He wanted to die so much. How he could forget about it? But it was the only thing he thought of. How was he going to say that the hounds followed him and decided to pitty him by attacking the new intruders? The leader would not believe anymore he believed him now. Aaron was so fucked up and Dumas wasn't around to help him out.

"Show me your neck.", the boy groaned and looked at the man. "I said show me your neck."

"Why?", asked Aaron. He was trembling now. If they discovered his mate mark on it... "What do you want to know?"

"Shut the hell up and show me your neck, unless you want me to shot not only your pets but you.", the boy swallowed, hard, and sighed.

Really, he was fucked up. But did what the leader asked him to do. He took off the jacket and stood there, not moving. The cold wind blew and Aaron shivered. His neck was exposed and so was the bit mark on it, reddish and lightly swollen, and the hickey was there too. The leader's eyes widen in shock and the rest of the members gasped.

"You...", he started, trembling in fear at the sudden realize. "You are a vampire's mate! You are a fucking vampire's mate!!"

"And he is mine, mind you.", said an angry voice behind the group.

The fifteen gunslingers turned around and found a cloaked figure in front of them. The hood covered the man's head and his bright, red eyes looked at the leader, full with rage of how he treated the young boy. His companion was also dressed with a cloak and the fox features were familiar to the leader too, but couldn't remember why.

"You are the one that hid here, the one that our spy inform us of.", Lucian took the hood off and looked at Ezra. Spy? Interesting. There was a spy in them and his best guess was Nish.

"Before you shot or you do anything, is your spy white haired or is a vampire?", asked the dhampir.

"He is human, for fuck's sake!!", replied the leader, offended. "We hunt those mother fucker's creatures!"

"That doesn't mean you can't have a vampire spy in your Guild. And you haven't answered my question. Please, do it.", responded Lucian in a very calm voice. Aaron was surprised at the sudden change of attitude.

"Of course not!", but Lucian still had his doubts, especially of how close Nish was from Dumas. He would hate to break his heart again if his suppositions were correct. "We don't recruit dead humans.", added moments later.

"Too bad, because I do.", he grinned as he lifted his arms, letting the cape slip from them.

"Fire!!", order the man and his group shot.

Only to be taken back. The attacks were bouncing on a strong barrier that Lucian created seconds ago while summoning Ghouls from the ground. They grabbed the gunslinger's legs and made them fall, taking away their weapons. Some of them started eating them alive as the leader kept shooting. Lucian summoned his spear, Jormungandr, which was all pitch black asides the top, dyed in a bloody crimson. He took it on his hands, steam of darkness flowing from it in the air. The dark weapon was alive, alive once more. The soul of the Earth Serpent sleeping in it was awake again and wanted fresh blood to eat. Lucian felt it too.

"Do you know how Dracula killed his enemies?", asked in naughty voice while charging his spear. "Impaling him.", answered to his own question when no one answered to it. But the horrified expressions of the gunslingers were all he needed right now. "That's how all of you will end after the fight!!"

He rushed to them and stuck the spear on the nearest man. The blood poured instantaneously but was being sucked by the weapon. The blade turned more reddish and more alive than ever. It was shaking with excitement. Jormungandr wanted to go out, to feed from those intruders that dared to threat its master's mate. Lucian laughed when the solar bullets bounced on the barrier, dashing towards the next one, hitting him with the body of his comrade and making him fall on the ground, losing his gun.

"Well, I'm starting to dislike the idea of impaling all of you.", he said to the one that was now killing with the spear. The weapon sucked all the blood in both bodies and Lucian kicked them off the spear. Jormungandr turned black and changed into the form of a big, crimson sword. On the hilt, there were open, red eyes looking everywhere. The blade opened in two, looking as a massive jaw from a massive wolf beast. "Oh, Vanargand, did you get bored while waiting?", asked the dhampir, cutting in two to the one that wanted to came close to him. "You did? Aw, don't worry! You will get so much fun now!"

The dhampir, too excited killing, felt how his vampire half was waking up slowly. Lucian noticed it and let the dark powers roam his body as they pleaded; looking how his human nails changed their forms and grew longer like his human fangs. The dhampir grinned, showing all his teeth as he caught a gunslinger between his fingers and snapped his neck with a single movement of his hand. He continued killing the remaining members until the leader was the only one standing before him. The double-barrel gun was out of charge and the man was too tired to keep on his feet. Lucian thought how much more until he fall on the ground, exhausted from the fight. The sword gave a small growl and Aaron shivered in fear.

"What did it say?", asked to his mate. Lucian smiled.

"Oh, he is hungry.", answered the dhampir, tossing the sword on the ground. The weapon started to morph into the shape of a black wolf with eight, red eyes looking at the leader in front of him. "And asked me to go out for a midnight snack.", the wolf had chains attached to his four legs. The beast roared, licking his lips as he dashed to the man. "Have a good meal, Vanargand.", he turned around to see Aaron. He smiled tenderly and hugged the boy. "Are you alright? Are you wounded?", Lucian asked petting his mate and kissing him.

"No.", the hounds whined and he giggled. "Those boys were accompanying me while you were out.", said as he petted the red one. Ezra walked to them and smiled at the young one. "Besides, why you took so long? You were only going for wood for the fireplace."

"Lucian asked me to come with him to the town to buy you food.", explained the female fox. She made a face when the black wolf returned to his master's side before turning into darkness and fading in the air. "He is disgusting.", she said when seeing the corpse of the leader lying on the ground.

"Well, I will have more Ghouls to protect the mansion from intruders now.", said Lucian happily. Aaron smiled softly. "Oh, did you know that Dumas was here too, but didn't want to come out?"

"What? He was here?", Lucian nodded. "And didn't help me? The bastard! I'm going to kill him when I find him!"

"Don't blame the Duke. He wanted to help but didn't know if his body would resist the fight."

"Hn, alright. But next time he will help or I will not forgive him!"

Ezra laughed with Lucian as the group walked back to the mansion, with the four hounds following them. Dumas, which were leaning on a tree, sighed and smiled. He looked up to Nish, who was holding him into his arms after he fainted when he traced with Perrault, still unconscious. The sudden energy was too much for the former Duke's body and, after that, he lost balance and fall on the ground. His Terrennial untraced and fainted immediately while Dumas felt dizzy and weak. Nish went out with him when the blue hound transmitted what Aaron said, to take care of the fragile vampire.

"You idiot.", mumbled the albino. "You should have told me you couldn't trance. I would have helped Aaron instead of staying here with you.", Nish smiled and snickered. "Did you do it on purpose?"

"No, of course not! I wanted to help the kid!", replied the former Duke, blushing deeply. He knew that Nish wasn't buying that but it was true. He wanted to help Aaron, not doing himself harm only to be with him. "I just... let my feelings control me and forgot I couldn't trance yet.", said instead, curling in Nish's arms. The vampire laughed softly and kissed Dumas' head. The former Duke tensed up.

"You care a lot for that kid.", the albino sighed as he rested comfortably on the tree. "What is he to you? A relative, a friend of something? Wait, that couldn't be because you mentioned something about killing his father..."

Dumas sighed.

"It's a long story. Sometimes I want to forget about it."

"It would be like denying what you are since that past is part of what you are. Come on!", said Nish happily. "Tell me, now that she is asleep and nothing can interrupt us. You will feel better after you telling it."

Dumas lifted his head and locked his gaze with the albino's one. Then, he smiled. It was weird but it felt right.

"Are you sure? I told you, is a long story.", Nish shrugged.

"We have all the time on the world."

The former Duke laughed. He made himself comfortable on the other's body and started to relate.


	8. Chapter 8

**(Fixed some mistakes, Re-Upload.)**

**Thanks you lady-of-destruction-aria! Glad you liking my story!**

**WARNING: Smex in this chapter; LucianxAaron, AaronxLucian, toys mention and other naughty stuff.**

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8

Lucian and Ezra left the room. The dhampir went towards Dumas' bedroom and asked if he could borrow a pair of cloaks to go to town. The vampire tossed at the dhampir the nearest ones he had and told him to leave. Lucian wondered why he was angry but didn't say anything. He left with Ezra and gave her the cape.

"Can you go with me? I need to ask you something.", said the dhampir. The female fox nodded, grabbing the cloak.

"About?"

"First, let's get out of here. Once we are in the town, I will tell you."

They walked to the principal doors and opened them. Lucian let Ezra come out first and then he followed, closing the doors behind him. The Terrennial thought what the dark swordsman would ask her. Could it be related to Nero? It must be, since Lucian didn't know how the cat was doing, locked inside a solar cage in the Guild. She didn't know either if Toasty did something to him. But no. Toasty wasn't that kind of creature, was he? The sun messenger would not try to torture the dark Terrennial in order to know certain information concerning the young gunslinger or so she thought. No one knew what Toasty was capable of when a certain someone was in 'danger', as he said several times.

They left the forecourt and followed a ground path that lead to Acuna. Both of them hid under the hoods when they entered the town in the frontier. It was late but most restaurants and grocery's shop were open to the public. The first thing that Lucian made was buy food for his hungry mate. After paying, both of them left and walked on the streets, feeling the cold air of the incoming blizzard. It seemed that the habitants of Acuna didn't know it was leading that way. Ezra found some fallen tress in a park and wanted to bring them but Lucian stopped.

"Not the place to do that."

"Why not? They don't use it and Aaron needs it.", replied the female fox, narrowing her eyebrows.

"Humans are different from Terrennials or other creatures. They have 'laws', and one of them prohibits the citizen to take anything from public spaces such like parks.", explained the dhampir. He smiled at Ezra's angry face. "We can get some in the forest near the mansion."

"It's absurd!", she cried following Lucian along. "Is that because they haven't remove it from the path either?", asked when the dhampir sat on a bench.

"I don't know. Each city and town has their own laws and obligations.", the female fox sat besides him. "Remember how Dumas ruled New Culiacan?", the Terrennial nodded. "Well, Acuna has its own ruler and rules it thinking he is doing it right, even if to the habitants seems is the wrong way to do it."

"Why not protest against it? If the ruler is doing it wrong, why not correct him?"

Lucian couldn't help it and laughed out loud. Ezra didn't like it.

"You can't unless you are a person among the ruler's place.", said Lucian. "For example; if a habitant of New Culiacan wanted to say to Dumas that he was a tyrant or something close to that, would Dumas hear it or at last made it come to the castle?"

"I got your point. But I still think is absurd!"

"Yeah, yeah...", he leaned back on the bench, with the bag on his lap, and sighed. "Do you think I'm doing the right thing?"

Ezra perked her ears.

"The right thing? With Aaron, you mean?", Lucian nodded. "Well, it's hard to tell since I'm no vampire or anything like that. But, do you really love Aaron?"

"You don't know how.", whispered the dark swordsman, his eyes shining at the memory of the young boy smiling. He sighed a second time. "I would give my life for him. All."

"Then it doesn't really matter if you are doing the wrong or right thing as long as you love him. One can't know if what one is doing is right, not even your heart. It only knows what is the best way to take care of your loved one.", said the Terrennial smiling. "You were worried about the boy?"

"Just a bit. I don't know how... eh... what was his name?", mumbled Lucian to himself.

"Who's name?"

"This guy... Fuck, cannot remember his name! Damn it!"

"One of the gunslinger?", Lucian nodded. "You mean either Ernest or Kay."

"Ernest! There!", yelled happily. "I don't know how Ernest will react at the situation. He cares a lot for Aaron as if was his own son. Toasty will try to kill me if he has the chance."

"Certainly.", both laughed out loud. "But it also depends on the boy's wishes. If he wants to stay with you, then he has the right to do it because he wants to spend his life with the one he loves. But...", Lucian arched his eyebrows, interested. Ezra sighed. "Toasty said he didn't want him to go because he is a vampire hunter and..."

"Fears that other gunslingers pursue Aaron like a traitor, right?", the Terrennial nodded. Her tails and ears twitched, nervous. "I understand. Before he came to the cottage, I thought of that too.", a soft wind started to blow in the park, playing gently with the tree's leaves. "I said 'what would happen after we mate? What would happen if other gunslinger founds it out?' I don't like the idea of Aaron being pursued by those who once were his partners."

"The only partners he had in the Guild were Ernest, Kay and Bea.", answered Ezra and arched her eyebrows at the confused expression of Lucian. "What?"

"Who are those?", asked in serious tone the dhampir.

"You don't remember them?"

"Remember, who?"

"You just talked about Ernest!"

"What the hell are you talking about, Ezra?", said Lucian more irritated.

"A tall guy, with dark skin. Short, almost white hair.", proceeded to explain the female. "He wears a green, Guild uniform and uses a long, solar gun, the Dragoon."

"Hm, the name Dragoon rings in my head, but the overall appearance no. Are you sure I know this guy?", asked Lucian in a worrying tone. He didn't remember a man, or a boy, called like that. "Or the others? I don't remember anyone named Kay or Bea."

"Forget it.", said Ezra sighing with anger.

"I will not. Who were those people?"

"They were your partners when you were still human, when you were a gunslinger called Sartana.", answered the Terrennial and found Lucian's smirk.

"Like I would believe that! I had been never in the Guild and never will! Those miserable hunt us down. Why would I ever have companions there?"

"You know you are a dhampir, right?", Lucian nodded. "Do you know why you are like that?", he raised his eyebrows again and snorted.

"Because I born like this? Seriously Ezra, I don't know why you are asking me such strange questions.", said the dhampir. "Maybe Aaron knows them because he spent his childhood there, but not me."

"Do you know where you born or who were your parents?", Lucian opened his mouth but shut it after. "Like I thought. What do you remember?"

"Well, the times I spent with Aaron when we had to kill Rymer and the others and bring the Duke down. Then, Polidori's defeat, after that I think I went to train my weapons... But I don't remember anyone with those names. I do remember Toasty, that bitch... I hate him so much.", Ezra giggled. At last, that part of him was still there. "Besides that, I don't remember anything else."

"So, the memories of the seven years before you encounter Rymer are gone.", mumbled Ezra to herself. "That means that you also forgot your human life, too."

"Care to explain what are you whispering about?", demanded Lucian, annoyed.

"You weren't born as a dhampir. You were a human who was transform into one. You traveled with Nero seven years before meeting Aaron, Ernest, Kay and Bea some days later.", the dhampir opened his mouth to speak but the Terrennial interrupted him. "The dark powers within you are eating your human memories faster than I thought."

"I don't remember any vampire biting me before. How can be that possible?"

"Nero's powers are inside you. He slipped from Perrault and saved you from death, but had to take part of your human body to be able to bond with you. Now, those powers are free from Nero's control and decided to take the remain of your being and turn you into a vampire.", explained Ezra. "But I'm well aware that they might erase this too, to prevent you of doing anything to stop the curse."

"No wonder why I couldn't remember my childhood and puberty."

The Terrennial smiled. She was about to say something when a cry of a child interrupted her. Lucian stood up. He let the bag in Ezra's arms and run towards the main street of Acuna. Ezra, following him, yelled him to stop but Lucian kept running. The hood fell on his back as his purple hair waved up and down as he run, hearing the curses and screams of the boy. He found several peoples surroundings a fight and he made his way to the center, pushing and receiving curses along the way, but didn't care about that. He could smell the scent, the scent of his own race. The smell of blood was everywhere. Could it be that there was a group of vampires fighting against humans? Or were the humans hurting the vampires?

"Oh Heavens...", he whispered when he saw two vampire siblings, sobbing on the ground, wounded. The boy had his lips swollen, a dark eye and several cuts that were healing up already. The girl, taller and perhaps the oldest from the two trembled in fear while hugging her brother. Several gunslingers without weapons were fighting hand on hand with an adult, female vampire and an adult human male one, probably trying to protect their kids.

"You monsters never learn!", said one of the gunslingers hitting the male. The female hissed and tackled the one who hurt her mate and tried to bit his neck, but when her fangs met the cloth, she gasped in surprise when, instead of finding soft flesh, she found a thick, metal neck protector. "Ha! Got you, bitch!", said the man as he throw her back to his comrades.

The crowd started screaming at the vampires nasty things and encouraged the gunslingers to keep fighting until the creatures died. Lucian felt anger rise inside him. Not even the cold touch of Ezra could calm him down. His eyes glowed in a bright red before he pushed some people out of his way as he made it to the fight. The gunslingers stopped and looked at him. The vampires hissed but soon relaxed when they sniffed in the air the scent of brotherhood. The children stopped crying but the girl was still sobbing.

"Who the fuck are you?", he asked but a loud snap was heard in the deadly silence of the night. Lucian dashed at lightning speed and broke the man's neck with a single, clean movement of his left hand.

"Shit! He is another vampire! Kill him!", said a second one and the crowd started to yell again curses, this time to Lucian that just killed one of the gunslingers.

The dhampir crouched down and put both hands on the ground. Immediately, stream of darkness grew from it. They launched to the gunslingers and trapped them, as they started to absorb their life. Lucian purred, smirking at the men that were dying just before his eyes. Several men from the crowd cursed him and dashed to him but stopped in mid rush when the dhampir, on his fours, hissed angrily as he showed his long fangs and teeth to the rest. Lucian was telling the others to not interfere. The most audacious ones ignored the warning and launched to the dhampir, who roared and jumped to the closest one and broke his neck as he pushed the second one to the crowd again. When the corpses were dry, he tossed them to the ground and the darkness disappeared. The people reunited started screaming and run off from the vampires until there was no one but them in the street.

Lucian calmed down and turned around.

"Thank you.", said the female, smiling.

The dhampir blushed in embarrassment.

"Oh... eh... Well, it was nothing.", just then he noticed that the man who was with her was human, not vampire or a dhampir like him. "Who is he?"

"My husband and those are our children.", the man helped his wife to get on her feet. "We were coming here, to a special Inn for vampires, and they found us.", the girl and the boy stood up and walked to their parents. The girl smiled shyly to the dhampir, as she blushed, and whispered soft thanks. But the boy hid his face on her mother's lap. "I can't say how grateful I am for your help."

"No, it's ok. I couldn't stand watching how they beat you up.", he and Ezra walked with them inside the Inn and helped them to recover their belongings that were toss away by the now dead gunslingers. "Can I ask you, why are you here? Acuna is the city that hates vampires the most."

"We have relatives here.", this time the man answered. "My mother wanted to meet her grandchildren. I can't say 'no' to that, can I?", he said laughing.

Lucian noticed that the Inn was own by humans. He looked at Ezra and then said good-bye to the vampire family before leaving. They put the hoods on their heads again and took another path to return to the mansion. If the ones who watched Lucian fight spotted them, they could be in serious problems then.

"What's wrong?", asked Ezra when they were a kilometer away from Acuna. They were safe now. At last for the moment.

Lucian sighed.

"Sometimes I wonder if vampires and humans will ever live together with no more wars or fights against each other.", answered with sad voice. "Sometimes I wonder if humans are taking advantage of vampires by saving them in purpose to have them under their fingers and do whatever they want with them. Is there a true friendship between them?"

"I wouldn't know. You know that humans and vampires are different from each others of their own race.", the dhampir nodded. "But, what do you think?"

"I think that humans may trick vampires with that 'friendship' of sorts."

"I agree."

They didn't speak the rest of the trip back to the mansion. The clouds were getting thicker and the first snowflakes started to fall but as soon as they appeared, they stopped falling minutes after. Ezra perked her ears at the sound of shooting in the forecourt and when she wanted to ask Lucian, the young one was dashing to the action place without saying anything. Ezra followed him at hot speed. They found new gunslingers with the same uniform of the ones the dhampir killed a while ago. Was Ernest move? Was the man trying to recuperate Aaron at any cost? Ezra bit his bottom lip.

She waited as Lucian took care of the fifteen men, watching then how Vanargand sucked the leader's blood and ate some important organs like the heart, liver and kidneys. After checking that Aaron was all right, they walked to the mansion, being followed by the hounds that were taking care of the boy while they were out.

A little after they came in, small snowflakes started to fall again.

Ezra left the mansion to talk with Alexander and, luckily, with Tove and Ursula too about the situation after bringing the wood the fireplace needed. Lucian and Aaron went directly to their room, sat on the bed and opened the brown bag with supplies. The boy smiled widely and took the homemade food they served in the grocery shop. It was chicken with potatoes and it was delicious. Lucian took a bottle of water out and handed it to Aaron while taking one for himself. Now the room was getting warmer with the lighted fireplace and the orange glow shined and danced around their figures and on the furniture.

The four hounds were resting on the floor, near the bed. Aaron fed some of them with little bits of the chicken and, when he finished, he throw to them the leftovers and the bones. He laughed when they started to fight for the remains. The boy looked in the bag and found two red apples and a popsicle. Aaron blinked. A popsicle?

"Why did you buy a popsicle? It will melt."

"No, those never melts.", answered Lucian taking a sip from the bottle. "They are called 'Magical Ice Pop' for a reason.", he laughed and looked at the boy. "Eat it, it tastes good.", he whispered something and the four hounds lifted their heads to the dhampir's side. When the murmur stopped, all of them grabbed the leftovers of the chicken and left the room.

Aaron was already eating the ice pop.

"Why they left?"

"I made them left.", said the dhampir, watching Aaron eat his desert. The boy 'hummed'.

"Why?", he blushed deeply when Lucian licked his lips. "Oh..."

While he kept licking the ice pop, he noticed how his mate was looking at him. His eyes were fixed in his tongue and lips movements. The forgotten bottle resting on the bed, then, Lucian put it on the night table without taking his eyes from Aaron. He followed the tongue up and down the ice pop, on the sides, taking the little drops of the vanilla, flavored ice pop that slipped from it. The dhampir felt his throat dry. He swallowed hard.

Aaron blushed again, closing his eyes trying not to picture the lustful gaze his mate had. It was useless. He could see those red orbs looking at him so directly, so demanding. The boy couldn't help it and moaned at the thought. He heard Lucian sigh. Aaron half opened his eyes and gave the ice pop a tentative lick. He bit down on it, taking a little bit of it in his mouth. He ate it and then proceeded to put the whole ice pop in his mouth, taking it out slowly and then putting it in again. The boy played with his tongue on it, curling it around the creamy ice, licking it from tip to bottom and then, going up again. He made a small, teasing moan. For a second time, he heard Lucian sigh.

"Do you want some?", asked Aaron, locking his eyes with his mate. "It's tasty.", added with a playful smile.

Lucian purred. He crawled to the boy and crushed his mouth on his, kissing him deeply. Aaron put the ice pop between them and both started to eat it, tangling their tongues, sharing pieces of it in their mouth, getting more turned on as moments passed. Lucian put his tongue in Aaron's, battling with the other muscle, the ice pop forgotten for a few seconds. The dhampir moaned in the back of his throat. His hands moved on their own. They traveled the boy's sides and slipped under his shirt. He felt him shiver in excitement and soon, they have finished the ice pop. Lucian kissed him a last time.

"Yes, tasty indeed.", he murmured with husky voice. Aaron smiled and hugged the dhampir's neck. "I want to lick your popsicle now."

The boy burst into laughs.

"What the fuck?", he kept laughing and Lucian giggled, too. "What the fuck did you eat in Acuna?"

He shrugged.

"Nothing."

"Then I bet vanilla makes you say stupid things."

"It's the sugar.", he said lying Aaron down on the bed and placing himself on him. "You have to never give me sugar again.", Lucian kissed him. "Never, never."

"Seriously, are you alright? You are scaring me with that… personality.", Aaron gasped when the dhampir bit down on his neck.

"I'm kind of sensitive to sugar."

"Really? I can be ten times worst than you.", he moaned when Lucian's left hand found a hard nipple beneath the shirt and decided to tease it.

"Let's bet then."

"No, I always lose bets."

"Then don't talk."

Aaron laughed. Instead of keep talking, he locked his lips with Lucian's and stuck his tongue in, curling it with the other that welcomed him in the hot cavern.

"Oh, wait, wait.", said Lucian suddenly.

"You aren't going to say you are nervous or something, right? Because I'm so going to kill you then…"

"No, no! I have to… ask Dumas for a few things I want to borrow.", explained as he got up from the bed. "Don't move!", said as he went out of the room.

"If I could go anywhere.", mumbled Aaron to himself. "Holy crap!", he yelled. "Oh, no! He is going to ask for those toys!", said at the sudden realization as he blushed deeply.

Aaron could imagine the things Lucian would love to do once he was back.

And he wasn't wrong. His mate brought interesting things, closed and locked the door and left the toys on the bed as he climbed on it again. Among them, there was a blindfold, a gag and a pair of fluffy handcuff. Aaron wanted to kill Dumas for mentioning those wicked objects in front of the horny Lucian yesterday morning. He was going to pay for that, but needed to think in something before the dhampir and he were too busy to think other things.

"Oh, and Nish gave me this.", said Lucian taking a small, black bottle from the toys. "It's a softer aphrodisiac and it will not make you so… horny like Dumas' one.", added with a smile.

Aaron was definitively going to kill Dumas, and Nish.

He acceded only to use certain toys as it seemed that Lucian wanted to use all of them. The dhampir made his way to the boy and started kissing him softly, slipping his hands on his sides, feeling the naughty fingers of his mate run on his back up and down, missing certain spots where Lucian loved to be touched. The dhampir left the hot mouth and traveled to the neck, leaving soft bites behind. Aaron moaned. He let his fingers find the sides of the casket armor and started to undress Lucian as his mate made little hickeys on his neck and cleavage. The dhampir let the boy take off the upper piece of the armor and the boots, leaving only the thin, black cloth underneath the boots.

Outside was snowing hard and the storm was covering with white the entire forecourt. The creatures tried to found refuge on the trees but the spiders were having problems with the intense cold. The crows were grouped in a single tree, all of them curled against each other to keep the heat. The hounds did the same, at last the ones that couldn't stand the cold like the green and purple ones. The red ones tried to warm up their companions.

The wind started to blow hard, the snow started to change into hail and the tiny rocks of ice hit the ground and the windows, making Lucian jump in surprise. The dhampir looked at the windows, his ears concentrated in the sounds. Aaron waited patiently. His mate, once he noticed it was only the hail hitting on the window, returned his attention to the boy lying under him, naked and sweating from head to feet. The boy already drank two single drops from the aphrodisiac that Nish gave Lucian, and it worked perfectly on him. He wasn't as horny as he was yesterday, something that made him feel good because now he had more control over his excited body and could, at last, think a bit in that blissful state.

Lucian sat on Aaron's lap and purred. He took a fluffy feather and touched the boy's hard nipples with the tip of it, making him shudder at the feeling. The softness traveled up, to his neck, touched his chin and tickled his sides, making him laugh. Lucian bent forwards and licked the heated skin with his tongue, following the same path the feather was doing. Aaron moaned and shuddered again, sighing at the sensations. The dhampir took one of the hard nubs in his mouth and played with it. Then, letting it go, he started to tickle the boy again while deciding what toy use next. They were sprawled on the bed, waiting to be used.

"Roll over your stomach. I wanna try something."

"Hope is nothing weird.", mumbled Aaron. Lucian got off so the boy could move freely. "Or you are so dead."

The dhampir snickered.

"Not really.", he opened his left hand and an ice cube appeared from the steam of darkness that formed on it. "Don't jump, alright?"

"Why would I---Holy shit! It's cold!", yelled the boy when he felt something icy between his shoulder blades.

"Duh, of course it's cold. It's ice.", said Lucian with sarcasm, but surprisingly, it made Aaron laugh.

"I can tell...", he arched from the bed gently, moaning softly from the sensation. "Actually, it feels really good.", Lucian slipped the ice cube along the column and smiled at the reaction he got from Aaron. The young one bit his bottom lip, holding a second moan that wanted to escape his throat. He dug his fingers in the sheets but couldn't prevent his body from shivering.

"So, seems you like this kind of stimulus. This is very interesting.", the dhampir let the coldness reach the boy's rear and found that he was getting really excited by the icy feeling. Lucian separated the cheeks softly and put the ice cube between them.

"Ah!", exclaimed Aaron, stretching up and squirming, panting and moaning loudly when Lucian started to run the ice up and down. "Keep going, keep going!!", he spreader his legs wider, giving Lucian more space to work. The boy arched his back and hid his head on the pillows, which muffled his pleasure sounds.

The dhampir made a second ice cube in his other hand and run it on the boy's right side. Aaron lifted his chest and the cold object slipped near his right nipple. Aaron bit down on his bottom lip, shuddering once more. When the cube touched his hard nub, the boy let out a small yell. Now, Lucian used both hands and slipped the ice cubes on Aaron's chest, which was on his fours and with his legs spread open, moaning and panting hard. The iciness traveled up and down, and soon, it reached his crotch area without noticing. It was instantly. The moment Lucian started to play with Aaron's member with the cubes; it twitched several times before the boy cummed. His mate squirmed at the sensations, standing like that for a few seconds. Then, he flopped on the bed and rolled, looking at Lucian, who melted the ices cubes with his powers.

"Liked it?", asked the dhampir kissing him softly. Aaron put his arms around Lucian's neck.

"Never knew I liked it so much.", the boy answered the gesture with a new kiss. "Would it have the same effect if you use something warm?"

"Something... like what? I can't use everything because it would not be of your likeness.", said Lucian kissing him again.

"Perhaps a warm dagger? You can heat up the tip and use it."

"Maybe a less dangerous thing?", Aaron laughed. "I mean it."

"I don't know. Can I try now? You can call me kinky, but that handcuff looks so tempting."

Lucian purred loudly, grinning widely. He licked Aaron's left cheek and bit it softly. Then, he rubbed their noses together.

"Do what you want with me. I'm all yours."

The boy blushed, but smiled.

Not so long after that, Aaron had Lucian like last time. He was now the submissive dhampir he was the night before, but now he was handcuffed against the headboard of the bed, on his stomach and with his legs wide open. Lucian's face was red; the eyes shone with lust, and he was too horny to think in anything else but in what would be Aaron's next move. Among the toys, the boy found a little dagger and remembered the talk he had with his mate about using it. Aaron smiled, licking the blade softly. He pressed it on Lucian's back and then, slipped it along his column. The dhampir shuddered. Even though it wasn't cold as the ice, the natural coldness of the metal was enough to make Lucian purr. The boy pressed the tip of the dagger softly, only to cause pain and trying not to mark the delicate and pale skin of the dhampir. Rolling it on his back, Aaron bent forwards and kissed his mate's neck, biting down when he felt to and pressing with the dagger.

The foreplay continued for fifteen minutes. Lucian's back was too sensitive thanks to the treatment and he desired for more. From the way he moved, Aaron noticed this and chuckled, lying on top of him. Lucian lifted his head and shuddered when the boy's hands took both of his nipples and started playing, pinching them hard, pulling with same force. The dhampir squirmed under the touch, biting his bottom lip and then opening his mouth to cry in pleasure. He arched from the bed, moaning softly. Aaron released his hands from the headboard only to have them attached to the handcuff again, but behind his back. Aaron ordered him to roll over and laid on top of him, kissing him roughly, biting Lucian's lips and tongue, wondering how his mate could like that kind of pain. Or was it because it was him giving it to Lucian?

He took a short whip, but wasn't going to hit his mate. Even though Lucian said he would love to be hit by him, Aaron wasn't that kind of person, at last not in those moments. Instead, he used it to tease Lucian, leaving him with the desire of being hit with the whip by his own hands. He traced the attractive chest and abs of the dhampir with the tip of the whip, watching him shudder. Lucian moaned and arched from the bed, purring loudly when Aaron teased both nipples. He went up and touched the dhampir's neck, one of his most sensitive areas along with his back.

"Aaron...", mumbled Lucian in a breathless sentence. His half, closed eyes looked at the named one, who smiled warmly to him.

The boy bent forwards and kissed his mate deeply, leaving the whip and taking a small lube bottle. He opened it, pouring a generous amount on his fingers. He bit down on the same place the already swollen hickey was, draining blood from it. Lucian moaned and arched from the bed when he felt the fingers of his mate inside him. The two fingers started to stretch him up, opening and closing, rubbing the inner walls, hitting his prostate every now and then. A third made his way in and a fourth wanted to get too. Lucian arched from the bed, looking up to the ceiling, clenching his teeth, breathing heavily. The treatment soon died and the dhampir shuddered at the loss.

Without Aaron saying anything, Lucian rolled on his stomach a second time and stood with his knees on the bed, his chest pressing against the soft pillows as he waited for his mate to finish lubricating his member. When he did, the boy took the dhampir's hips and thrusted hard. Lucian cried out loud, trembling in pleasure. He loose up and Aaron started moving, back and forth, in and out. The boy's hands slipped on Lucian's back, digging his nails where he knew the half-vampire loved to be touched, caressing the softness of his inner thighs, his stomach, and his hard nipples.

Aaron swallowed hard, panting while thrusting as hard as he could. The moans and pants of Lucian reached his ears, turning him on more than he was. The sticky bodies crashed into each one. They no longer heard the strong hail hitting on the windows, the fire spark in the fireplace or the bed crack under them. The dhampir's eyes turned completely crimson and they shined in a faint red light. Without noticing, his skin went paler and his fangs grown a bit larger, too. Lucian cried once more.

"Ah! Aaron!", he exclaimed when the boy's member touched his prostrate. "Yes! Take me, take me!", said, biting his bottom lip. "I'm all yours!"

Aaron leaned forwards, and kissed Lucian's neck, panting in his left ear. Upon those sweet sounds, the dhampir moaned.

"Say it again. Say you are mine again.", whispered the boy into his ear.

"I am!", yelled the other, moaning more and more as he got closer to his orgasm. "I am, I am! I'm completely yours for eternity!"

"I love you, Lucian.", said as he cummed inside the dhampir, who gasped as he released on the bed with force. Aaron separated himself from Lucian and took off the handcuff. "I love you.", repeated.

Lucian rolled on his back and hugged him tightly, kissing him softly on the lips, still trying to catch his breaths like Aaron. The dhampir looked at him and the boy shuddered at the sight of the crimson orbs. There was no soft brown left. They were completely red, like vampire's eyes. Lucian smiled warmly to him, and Aaron couldn't help it as he found himself returning the gesture.

"I love you so much, too, Aaron.", whispered. He kissed the boy again, not noticing the change of his fangs. "And I'm yours for the rest of your life, all yours."

Aaron blushed deeply. He smiled, putting a soft kiss on the dhampir's lips.

"I'm too. I'm yours, forever.", said, kissing Lucian again.

Unaware for them, Dumas clenched his teeth after hearing those words. He closed his eyes tightly, not letting his rage take control of his persona. When he thought it died down, the former Duke spun around and left.


	9. Chapter 9

**(Fixed some mistakes, Re-Upload.)**

**Anon. Reviewer: Indeed. She is one of my favorite Terrennials in LK XD Sadly, I hate her climate and hardly ever use it. You will love her more with this chapter, especially to what she does to Toasty.**

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9

Ernest jumped when the door of his office suddenly opened. Standing in the doorway, was a man in his thirties. He was taller than Ernest, white skin, slim but had strong muscles under the thin fabric of the armor he and the gunslingers of the north wore. His short, red hair was stained with blood like his face, and his penetrating pinkish eyes made Ernest shiver.

"I can see you have returned from your patrolling.", said the man. But the other growled.

"Why didn't you tell us that the Duke was still alive?"

The man, Oyan, was the leader of the north gunslingers. He responded to Ernest's call a few days ago, seeing as the local Guild was lacking in staff for the usual and most easy patrolling missions. Oyan knew that the east city was slowly being infected with vampires again –at last how he saw it-, and didn't reject the favor Ernest asked him. But the man wanted to find Aaron firstly. He needed to know where he was after they disappeared from the mountains. The blizzard already hit and the others thought they would return to the cottage they were living, as Nero told them, but when they went there, the cottage was empty. Toasty angered on the poor cat and now the dark Terrennial was unconscious inside the solar cage once more. But Ernest knew something they didn't.

"Oh, I didn't tell you? I'm sorry. I have been so tired these days…"

"That isn't an excuse!", yelled Oyan much to Ernest's dislike. He hated yelling persons. "The Duke was our main target since he got New Culiacan by force, seeing as how many of our families were living there!", the local Guild leader wanted to yell back, but he knew it was pointless. He would hear what Oyan had to say and then return to what he was doing. "And what about the boy?"

"Who?"

"Trinity's child. You said you were looking for him, right?", Ernest nodded. "Well, one of my groups hasn't come back yet, the one who went to the Hunting Mansion, so I suppose some vampires are there as well as the boy."

"Thanks, Oyan. And I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the Duke before. I'm so sorry."

"It's all right. I shouldn't have said those things seeing how stressed you are about the boy.", he left and closed the door behind him.

Ernest bit his bottom lip and kicked the trash can at his left. He cursed several times and stopped when he saw Kay and Bea standing in the doorway, after Oyan left instants ago. The leader sighed and made them enter. The canine boy sat and Bea sat besides him.

"What's the matter?", asked the woman.

"Oyan sent a group to the Hunting Mansion."

"And?", said Kay, not really knowing why Ernest was so upset.

"I knew that Lucian and Aaron weren't coming back after the storm hit."

"And you didn't tell us?!", yelled Bea. "They are still in the Hunting Mansion?", Ernest nodded. "Those north gunslingers will have a lot of troubles there."

"They are dead by now.", said Kay with a grin. "Lucian might have already killed them."

The woman smiled, crossing her arms on her chest.

"What are we going to do to prevent Oyan from going to the mansion once he finds out that his group was killed?"

Ernest sighed again.

"I don't know. I think we should go to see them and tell them what is happening here, so Lucian and the former Duke can find another place to stay."

"Are you sure?", whispered Kay, fearing that someone would listen to their conversation. "Tomorrow night vampires will start feeding once more, and I don't think Lucian or the Duke would love to have visits in the middle of their meal.", Ernest and Bea laughed.

"I agree, Ernest. Maybe we should do it the day after or when the moon changes its phase again."

"Indeed, but Oyan will not care about the phases like we do. He will send another group to take care of it until they are all dead.", explained the leader, leaning on the chair. He was tired and wanted to sleep, but he knew that as long as Aaron was out there he had to watch every Oyan's move to prevent him for killing the boy for being with vampires. Ernest didn't know of what Oyan was capable of when facing the former Duke or the other vampires. Suddenly, the leader sat up and looked at the other two. "How the hell Oyan knew that the Duke was still alive?"

"I beg your pardon?", said Bea. No one the north gunslingers or the ones in the local Guild knew about Dumas besides them. "We didn't say anything, neither Nero…", she shut up and then yelled. "Toasty! Oh Heavens! I'm going to kill him for this!"

"I don't think Toasty would say something like that. It would put Aaron's life in danger.", Kay was sure that the sunflower didn't say anything of the matter knowing how fierce were the north gunslingers. "If we ask him, how will know he isn't lying?"

"I think we should ask for Ezra's help.", suggested Bea with a naughty grin on her face.

Soon, Ernest and Kay knew what she was referring when the fox started to kick Toasty's ass when she got the news. The poor Light Terrennial was being tortured by the female fox, which wasn't showing any pity on him after what he did. But when Toasty yelled that he wasn't the author of the crime, Ezra stopped. She demanded an explanation and the sunflower said that he wouldn't say something that would put Aaron's life in danger.

"Are you saying that those idiots have a spy?!", screamed the female fox, grabbing Toasty's horn.

"Ack! That hurts!", said the light Terrennial. "I don't know! Maybe they have one! Why don't you ask Lucian or Dumas when you go and see them again?"

"Wouldn't be easier if you confess?"

"I didn't do it!"

"How can I trust you when you have hurt and jailed to one of our friends? A friend that was only doing what he thought it was correct, because he was helping someone he truly cares for!", said Ezra shoving Toasty on the ground.

Toasty opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came from it.

"That hurt.", was the only thing he could say after a few moments.

"And it also hurts to know that your friend is doing the wrong thing and is too stubborn to face the truth.", whispered Ezra. "Toasty please, release Nero. It will be better if he returns to Lucian's side, with him and Aaron to take care of him after what you did."

"I… I….", Toasty shuddered. "I'm afraid."

"Afraid?", repeated Ezra. "Of what? Of losing him?", the other nodded. "Oh, come one…", said the ice Terrennial, opening her arms. Shyly, Toasty let her hug him. Ezra smiled. "You are not going to lose Aaron as you did with Trinity. The boy cares about you deeply, but he fears that you will never will like Lucian."

"I will not.", whispered Toasty back. "You know, there are certain persons that one doesn't like and never will… Lucian is one of those."

"Don't do it, but at last respect Lucian for who he is. You will see that yours and his differences will disappear, and Aaron will be happy that you two get along even if you and Lucian don't agree in the same thing."

Toasty stood silent for a few seconds.

"I will try.", he looked at Ezra. "But I didn't tell the north gunslingers about Dumas. It wasn't me!"

"I know you didn't, I just wanted to be sure."

"You are so mean!", said Toasty, releasing her and smiling. "No wonder you still haven't got a man!"

The light Terrennial disappeared from the room. Ezra smiled, knowing how wrong was Toasty about it. She did have her man, but her man didn't know he had her, too.

Later that night, Ezra communicated the information to Ernest. Then, he went to see Oyan and the leader said he didn't have any spy in his group that he didn't like those kinds of things, but Ernest didn't believe him. He stepped outside, in the Guild's field for practicing, and spotted the moon behind some dark clouds. It wasn't a perfect circle anymore, but some vampires still had their mating cycle and it was still dangerous to go outside. He warned Oyan but the man didn't listen to him. Ernest hated when he came after the missions with half of his man when he went outside. He hated that Oyan didn't care for their safety.

He sat on the tall grass and then laid on the ground. The coldness of it made him shiver as he looked to the cloudy sky. The moonlight shined with a silvery light and the stars were as bright as it. It was a very quiet night. The wind made a soft howl sound, the leaves played in it, creating a lulling atmosphere. A few bats and crows were seen in the sky or heard in the emptiness of the night, but asides of that, Ernest couldn't hear or feel any other living thing in the field.

Still concerned about Aaron, he thought if he did the right choice when he asked for Oyan's help. The local Guild lacked in staff, especially in trained gunslingers, and the rookies were a pain in the ass to deal with, so they stayed in the Guild doing house works like cleaning, cooking and taking care of the elders and their weaponry. From the two-hundred they were, only half of them were veterans or trained gunslingers that were worthy to have in the Guild. He knew the north was a very warrior race and they really disliked vampires and undead, and most of their hunts had a one hundred percent of success. He didn't know if it was because they were really efficient, or the vampires and undead were too weak in the north. Either way, he needed to let Aaron and Lucian know about what Oyan wanted to do. Otherwise, they would end up in serious problems.

The weapons they had weren't match to the Dragoon, Witch, Bomber or Ninja, the most powerful weapons inside the Guild. The double-barrel guns, snipers, hand grenades were a small part of their main weaponry, much stronger and efficient than the ones from the east cities. Back when Trinity was still alive, the old leader of the north Guild wanted to came to the east cities to "improve" their way in killing vampires and in training the rookies using different methods the usual in the east Guild, knowing that they had some "problems" in trying to kill the ones in them. But what they didn't know, it was that Lord of Destruction was too powerful to kill with simple solar gun of any kind, and was much stronger than they originally thought of. Ernest could say that Dumas went lucky when he killed Ratatosk eleven years ago. Even knowing this, Trinity never let the north Guild came and teach him or the others what they wanted to do, never giving a reason for his denial. Now, Ernest knew why after meeting up with Oyan a few days ago.

The north Guild was a very warrior race, only caring to destroy the enemy no matter what, using their man at the extreme, with dirty tricks such as using drugs to make them stay awake or in good shape for the next hunt. It seemed they were too obsessed in eradicating the vampires in the north as well as the undead. It seemed like they didn't have another thing in their minds but the single order of "Kill". Ernest wasn't surprised that most of the gunslingers in the north Guild were orphans; the perfect soldier who didn't have a family to care or come back to. With this, or rather without it, they could train them to be the perfect soldier to send and trash in the war against the vampires. Those soldiers wouldn't have anything in mind rather than going out to destroy the enemy and not thought of if it was going to end dead, what would be of its family and such. Thoughts that prevented to the soldier work properly. It was for that, that Trinity refused the idea of the north Guild coming to them. Trinity cared about the soldiers working for him and didn't see them as mere pawns or objects. That's why; too, they were more efficient than the north soldiers. Having their emotions, they could not only fight because of their family and friends, but for the ones in the Guild too because for them, it was like a second home. A home to return after the end of the day, at the end of a battle or at the end of the war.

Now, Ernest thought why he asked for Oyan's help again. He put his hands on his face, sighing loudly. It was a terrible mistake that couldn't be fixed. If he asked Oyan to leave, he would leave the Guild but stay in the surrounds, going to the dungeons, hunting the undead and going to the cities where some humans and vampires lived together without problems and start chaos in them. Why he didn't think of that before? Why he acted in such hurry? Was it because he is too concerned about Aaron? But, why would he? The boy was with Lucian after all, and that guy wasn't the type of person that a normal gunslinger can bring down. In fact, like Kay said, the group that Oyan sent to the mansion would be dead by now and slaved by Lucian's or Dumas' dark powers after killing them. If Oyan sends another group, they would indeed end up killed by the vampire's hands. Then, the leader will get so angry and upset that he will go personally to take care of the matter and might end killed, too. What would happen, then? Would the rest of the north gunslingers come to the east city to avenge Oyan's dead?

But those thoughts disappeared as the image of Aaron came again. The boy was decided in living the rest of his life besides Lucian. He didn't care if other gunslingers hunted him down, as long as he was with his mate, everything else didn't matter at all. But if Lucian did turns into a vampire, what would he do then? Even if years passed, Lucian was the same Sartana Ernest knew and cared for, and couldn't stand before him and shot him like that. He couldn't. And he had to think a way to talk with them about Oyan and the others, and the only one was to go to the mansion and look up for them. Maybe taking Nero with them would be safer, since the black cat could talk with the beasts guarding the mansion. Convincing Toasty is going to be a pain in the ass, but Ernest knew that if they ask Ezra first, the rest is easy.

He returned to the Guild, ate something and flopped on the bed. And as soon as his head hit the pillow, he drove to the land of dreams.

The morning was very cold. There was a thick sheet of snow covering the ground and the streets of the cities. The trees were covered as well and in the sky there were dark grey clouds. Nero was curled inside the cage when Ernest came to see him. Along with him, came Toasty as well, looking guilty as Nero could see. The Terrennial made the cage disappear and a hot, milk bowl was put under his nose. The warmness made the cat sat on fours and start drinking the tasty liquid.

"How…", said Toasty, with shaking voice. "How are you feeling?"

"I think I will be better after I finish this delicious bowl of hot milk."

"I'm sorry."

"What? I didn't hear you.", said Nero, lifting his head.

"I'm sorry.", repeated Toasty louder.

"I know, I know. Come here.", demanded the cat and the sunflower obey. He bent forwards and suddenly, Nero lifted his left paw and scratched Toasty's face.

"Auuuuuug!!", yelled the light Terrennial in pain. "Fuck, fuck! It aches!"

"That was for calling me a shitty cat.", mumbled Nero, standing on his legs. A thin, stream of darkness formed around him as he turned completely black. He turned to his human form, that resembled Lucian's trance, but with big, cat ears on his head and a long tail. His hands were human like but with long claws and his feet were feline alike. The only thing he wore was the thin, black cloth that the dhampir wears under his Casket Armor. "And this is for all the torture you put me in!!"

Nero launched to Toasty, throwing him on the floor. The dark Terrennial hissed, showing his fangs to the other and then, started to hit Toasty on his stomach, clenching his teeth as he did so. The light Terrennial whimpered in pain as he received what he deserved, trying to cover up with his arms.

When Nero finished he stood up, panting and sweating from head to feet. Hissing one last time he helped Toasty to get on his feet.

"There, there.", said the cat, putting an arm on his back and grabbing Toasty's waist with the other. "How are you feeling?"

Toasty managed to laugh and that, made Nero smile.

"I have been better."

"Asshole.", whispered the cat, still smiling. "Come Ernest, we have to lay this boy down or he will pass out."

The man followed the two to the nurse room and asked Tove, who was there helping the nurses, to take care of Toasty while he and Ernest talked. The man asked Nero to come to the mansion and talk with Lucian and the others about what was happening in the Guild and with Oyan. The cat agreed.

"Just a thing; what about that spy you mentioned earlier?"

Ernest shrugged.

"I have no idea, honestly.", he winced when he heard Toasty yell in pain when Tove poured some alcohol on his stomach. "Why you ask?"

"Because I think the new vampire that hanged out with Dumas might be the one we are looking for.", answered Nero. "I don't know what kind of relation ship he has with Dumas, but I fear that he was just using him to know where they were going before the storm hit."

"No wonder why Oyan sent a group to the mansion even though I told him not to.", Ernest heard Toasty complain again and then Tove shutting him up for once. "But I don't think Oyan would hire a vampire in his crowd. He hates them."

"Indeed he does, but there is a possibility that he has that vampire under his control by a spell or having something very important locked inside the north Guild."

"Do you think Lucian figured it out?", Nero nodded. "What will he do about it?"

"It's going to be hard, because then he will have to break Dumas' heart again, and I think is the last thing he wants to do.", like remembering something, the cat added. "By the way, in what phase is the moon now?"

"The waning gibbous phase will start tonight."

"Oh, shit!", cursed the Terrennial. "I have to go to the mansion now! Lucian will try to feed from Aaron when he wakes up from his sleep after the mate."

"Aaron is not going to let him!", yelled Toasty from the other side of the room. "Ow! Even though Lucian is a dhampir, he is still weak against Aaron's solar energy from the guns!"

"I know, but did you forget that he is with two vampires besides Lucian?"

"Are you saying that Dumas and his mate will help Lucian out?!", Nero shrugged.

"Perhaps."

"What?!", screamed again. "Now I'm SO going to kill you Nero!", Nero rolled his eyes as he sighed. "How could you?!"

"Like I recall from the days before, it was Aaron's choice to go.", replied, crossing his arms on his chest. Surprisingly, Toasty didn't yell back. "Mouse ate your tongue or what?"

"I just… Is Aaron going to get the curse too when Lucian bites him?"

"Not really, seeing that he is marked by now by him.", explained the cat. "Once the mate is marked, the curse will not have any effect on it as long as he doesn't drink the blood from his vampire mate."

"Good.", said Toasty, sighing in relief. "Thanks, Tove, and sorry if I yelled too much."

The earth Terrennial smirked.

"You have always been a wuss.", said as he patted Toasty's shoulders. "Come on, get up before I kick your ass for what you did to Nero the past few days. And don't forget to apologize to Aaron and Lucian, too."

Toasty smiled and thanked him again.

Nero wanted to go immediately, but Toasty said that Aaron will be sleeping like Lucian and the other two vampires and wasn't actually safe going at those hours, knowing that the dhampir was still sensible to the heat and might see it as harm for the tired boy. But going later that night will be the same as going early, since Lucian will behave the same. Besides, they needed to get before Oyan send another group of gunslingers. He might send more than the first time. Either way, Nero decided to go when the night fall, like Toasty suggested, and asked not only Kay to come but also Bea. They both agreed to go after Oyan leaves for his usual night patrolling.

Ernest decided to get some sleep before going to the mansion. It was still early in the morning, and a long nap would be perfect if he needed to be up the whole night. He was walking to his bedroom when he spotted the red head of Oyan walking towards the training fields. He was alone and wasn't with his gun or his armor. A twitch in his stomach made Ernest follow the man along the Guild and into the training fields, seeing that he wasn't going to stay there, but rather he kept walking and went to the forest near the Guild.

Oyan turned around. He saw no one. Strange because he could feel the presence of another being following him. He kept walking until he stopped before a small cave. The red haired man entered the cave and instants later, he came out with another boy. Ernest noticed it was short in height, had very pale skin but wasn't a vampire at all –or so he thought-, and was wearing very dark clothing. His hair was hidden under the cloth and soon, the man noticed that Oyan was speaking either with his spy or someone that helped him in killing the vampires out there.

"How are you today?", asked Oyan.

"Better, thanks for asking.", answered the boy. "And you?"

"Good too, but I'm afraid that the group I sent after the vampires in the Hunting Mansion is now dead."

"It wouldn't surprise me, seeing as one of those vampires is the former Duke.", the boy rubbed his eyes and yawned. "But there is more."

"I'm listening."

"Do you remember Trinity's partner?", Ernest paled. He hoped the boy wasn't referring to Sartana. If he was, then Oyan would start acting on its own rather than helping him in finding Aaron or worst. "Not Ernest."

Oyan blinked, confused.

"I thought Ernest was Trinity's perfect partner."

"No, it was Sartana."

"Sartana? Wasn't he the best gunslinger besides Trinity? I thought he lived in the south."

"He did live in the south, but moved at young age to the east cities. He listed in the local Guild at young age and mastered all the guns rather quickly. Sartana soon was known as the veteran rookie. He was far better than most old members in the gunslinger and he could match up with Trinity.", explained the boy. Both of them were unaware of Ernest's presence. "He became Trinity's partner after his first mission, where the leader saw his true potential and decided to train the boy by his own. Of course, like every other gunslinger, he hated the Lord of Destruction and Count Dumas and when they fought against them, Sartana ended up severally injured. His life was in danger for all the wounds he had, but Trinity saved him."

"How? Trinity was as wounded as Sartana, if I recall correctly.", grunted Oyan. He was starting to not believe the story.

"With a Terrennial.", said the boy, grinning. "Perrault is the Lunar Terrennial, the one that holds the energy from the vampire's deity, the moon. But the moon not only has the pure lunar energy, it also has darkness within. This part of the moon slipped from Perrault and bonded with Sartana.", explained later, seeing the surprised expression on Oyan's face. "After the bonding, Sartana had to renounce to a part of his humanity to be able to welcome those dark powers. Of course, the dark powers are only guarded by the Dark Terrennial, Nero of the Shadows, and only vampries are granted with this energy. Sartana had to mute his body in order to be slightly immune to the dark powers. But it wasn't enough. His right eye dyed in red and Nero knew that Sartana wasn't going to be human for a more time without something to prevent it."

"The Dark Swordsman...", mumbled Oyan. "If I remember correctly, his name was Lucian and wore a black eyepatch on his right eye. Was because of the curse?", the boy nodded. "I didn't know that the curse could be shared if the Dark Terrennial shares the body with anyone."

"It shouldn't be possible."

"Are you saying that Sartana was born as a dhampir?"

"It could be. If he wasn't, then the dark powers should have destroyed his body the first instant Nero bonded with him.", the boy sighed. "Anyway, I couldn't get close to the mansion because of the high amounts of hounds patrolling the forecourt. But I think the Dark Swordsman will try to feed tonight in order to turn into a full vampire."

"Is he aware of it?"

"Probably not."

"How many vampires are living in the mansion right now?"

"Two, and the Dark Swordsman."

Ernest sighed again. They didn't know about Aaron. He was safe for now.

"I suggest you to not go tonight.", said the boy. "It's too dangerous, even for you and your warrior race."

"I have been slaying vampires since I was ten. I can handle anything. Now, is the Duke with them?", again, the boy nodded. "Who is the second vampire then?"

"It seems is a traveler that cought them up and stayed with them."

"Good. Keep resting. I might need you later."

The boy nodded and returned to the cave, while Oyan turned around and returned to the Guild, with Ernest following him. Who was the boy? Was the spy that Ezra and Lucian talked about? How did he know all that about Sartana? Maybe he was an informer like Alice was to the boys, which helped them in their mission four years ago. But it was strange that he didn't know about Aaron sticking with the vampires. How could he miss information like that? Unless the spy didn't know about it. But then, he wouldn't be a spy if he didn't know about Aaron. Or he did know, and didn't tell anything to Oyan. Why? Why would the boy not say something important to the leader of the north Guild? He could use it against Lucian and the other two vampires and kill them easily.

One thing was for sure; there was something else between Oyan and the boy, something not nice and that it could bring serious problems to Lucian and Aaron, and Ernest was going to do anything at his hand to prevent it.


	10. Chapter 10

**Fixed some mistakes, Re-Upload.**

* * *

10

Dumas woke up early that evening. He opened his eyes lazily and the first thing he saw was Nish's sleeping face. The vampire locked his gaze into the sleeping one, and didn't move, just stared. Last night, they had sex like the other night, and Dumas enjoyed it again. Nish wanted to bond with him and Dumas had to hit him when the albino was being too annoying about the matter. He apologized for it, rolled and went to sleep. Dumas didn't know if he acted good, but he knew he wasn't ready for a next mate but Nish was... well, Nish. The former Duke smiled softly when the eyes of the albino vampire opened lazily as his.

"Hey...", whispered Nish. "Sleep well?", Dumas nodded.

"Very. And you?"

"I'm sleeping besides you. That should be enough.", he laughed when his partner blushed deeply, hiding his face in the pillows. "Come on, don't be embarrassed."

"Shut up.", said and both laughed. "Damn... I just remembered...", mumbled as he stretched on the bed, rolling on the other side. "Heavens, I don't want to get up."

"Then don't.", Nish grabbed Dumas' waist and curled besides him. "Let's rest a bit before getting off the bed. Lucian and Aaron are still sleeping."

Dumas, nervous, let the albino grab his waist while he moved closer to him. It was a very nice feeling. He had forgotten about it and the soft caress of Nish's chest against his back was heartwarming. He smiled, purring when the albino started to pet his head in a tender way. A few minutes later, Perrault entered the room, floating in the air to the bed and landing on both men. The cat curled on them and smiled widely at them.

"Good evening!", she cheered. "I have some news about Nero!"

"Oh, that's good.", whispered Dumas, petting his Terrennial.

"Toasty finally let him go, and he isn't coming alone. Ernest, Kay and Bea are going to come, too. There is a very urgent thing they need to tell us.", explained Perrault.

"About?", she shrugged when Nish asked.

"Wonder what could it be...", whispered Dumas, half sleep. The warmness was calling him to the land of dreams again. "Probably something related with Lucian..."

"I guess so.", answered Perrault. "Master, you are still tired. Why don't you get some more sleep? They are going to come around midnight."

"What time is it?", asked Nish.

"Around... a quarter to seven.", the albino nodded and curled besides Dumas, who was already sleeping. "Rest well."

"Thanks, Perrault."

The Terrennial smiled and left. When she flew past Lucian's room, she noticed the open door. Being the curious cat she was, Perrault peeped inside and found only Aaron lying on the bed. He was curled under the sheets and the bed was truly a mess. The cat entered the room and found no traces of Lucian in there. Where could the dark swordsman be? She left and floated outside, in the forecourt. All was covered with a thin cape of snow. The sky was still dark and the monsters were almost inactive due to the freezing temperatures. Sniffing the air, Perrault made her way through the forecourt, following Lucian's scent. Soon, she noticed that the dhampir was in the ruins under the mansion. Carefully, Perrault entered into the dark room. She floated down on the stairs and passed by the big hall. There were a few dark hounds patrolling. The ghouls popped from the ground as soon as she stepped on the floor and the Terrennial decided to keep floating rather than walking, for her own safety.

She made her way along the Sanctum and proceeds into the sealed area, San Miguel. Perrault noticed that the closer she got to the sealed area the fewer monsters were patrolling the area, and couldn't blame them. An aggressive and powerful, dark energy was pouring from the last room of San Miguel, so strong that even the walls were cracked by it. She noticed that there were several black and crimson roots crawling on the walls, ceiling and floor. Then, some dark clouds moving slowly from the last chamber to the Sanctum. Perrault shivered in fear. Her fur on her tail stood up violently as an air wave shot her.

A low growl came from the chamber.

The Terrennial moved closer, touching the left wall with her left paw. There was someone in the chamber, she could feel it. And that power, too... She remembered feeling the same in Polidori and in her master, but it was slightly stronger than them. Who could have such energy on the planet? She shivered again when entered the chamber. It was all dark, completely dark. The skylights were covered with steam of darkness and the same crimson roots she saw before coming in, preventing the last rays of Sun come into the room.

Perrault waited in the air, barely breathing. She was scared about the being hiding in the shadows. If it was an enemy, she must tell Dumas immediately or it could be serious troubles after. The being growled again and that startled the purple cat. The clouds twitched, aware of her presence now, but did nothing. The roots crawled away from the skylights, like the clouds, and let the first rays of Moon enter. The silver light bathed the darkness in the room and a lazy silhouette was visible between it. She could see several horns growing from its head, as well as two pairs of bat wings growing from its back. Its crimson eyes glowed in the dark and Perrault gasped when the pair saw her, but didn't pay any attention to the Terrennial. As the time passed, the moonlight illuminated the whole being. There were very thin lines running on its body, as if those were its veins filled with the vampire power that was corrupting a human life.

The being was, apparently, sitting on the floor. Its whole body was covered in dark and was all pitch black. If that being was a very powerful vampire or a human transforming into one, Perrault couldn't tell because of the clouds covering it. And it couldn't be Lucian because he hadn't bit Aaron yet and he wasn't the type of person to go out and hunt a random human after mated the boy. She knew, along with Dumas, that he was going to transform once he had tasted Aaron's blood and not someone else's blood. If it wasn't Lucian, who it was?

A hiss was heard and that alerted Perrault's senses. The being had its eyes wide open and looked angry. The dark clouds and the roots were twitching and moving nervously, as if they prepared to strike and hit the enemy. The wings of the being flapped twice, the knuckles were cracked and the claws launched an attack against Perrault. She barely made it and flew out of the chamber, too scared to look back. Rushing through the Sanctum, ignoring the monsters that went behind her, ignoring everything that wanted to catch her Perrault made it to the forecourt, but didn't stop there. She kept flying until she was at the mansion's front doors. Just then, she stopped, trying to catch her breath again. Some hounds walked to her but Perrault hissed at them, floating in the mansion and closing the doors behind her.

Silence met the Terrennial. Perrault floated back to his master's room and found him already up and dressed, but Nish was nowhere to find.

"Back already?", said Dumas, smiling to her. "I thought your walks were longer than this."

"I, eh... I need to...", she shivered again and the vampire noticed it. He walked closer to Perrault and petted her head, sensing her fear. "I saw... something in the Sanctum."

"What did you see?"

"It's hard to tell... but the closest guess... I think it's a vampire, a very, very powerful one.", Dumas arched his eyebrows.

"How strong?"

"Stronger than Polidori."

"Wasn't Lucian by any chance?"

"I don't know. It was all covered with darkness and I could only see the crimson eyes, but undoubtedly it was a human transforming into a vampire."

"It's weird. Normally, vampires doesn't chose places like this to transform, since its being patrolled often and it's not safe enough for them.", he sighed, knowing he had to alert Nish and the others. "Unless this vampire doesn't fear gunslingers.", he looked at her. "How are our lovely boys?"

"Well, Aaron is still sleeping, but Lucian wasn't in the room or in the mansion."

"Perhaps he went for a walk or is trying to settle down his bloodlust.", said Dumas, knowing that the dhampir might have left not exactly for a walk.

"What are you going to do about it?"

"I don't know. I don't wish the curse for Lucian because I have been getting along with him very well, like with Aaron, but at this rate... It's impossible even for Aaron to stop it. If he doesn't want Lucian to drink his blood, then he will go and seek it somewhere else.", answered the former Duke, worried about the whereabouts of Lucian. He hoped he didn't go into hunting without company because of the gunslinger and because after feeding, he might lose his memories for real and not be able to remember Aaron and anything they lived. That was the worst thing Dumas thought in the moment. "And I don't want that either. It is true that I saw cases in where humans stayed with their memory intact after transforming into a vampire, but Lucian might have started well but end wrong."

"So, your final decision is helping him after all?"

Dumas sighed.

"Sadly for Aaron, yes."

Said boy was still sleeping when Nish and Lucian returned to the mansion at midnight. Perrault seemed nervous around the dhampir but none of them asked her why. Lucian returned to his bedroom when the Terrennial told him about Nero's and the gunslinger's visit and Nish stayed with Dumas in the library, besides the fireplace. The temperature descended even more and there was another warning of blizzard that night. Just ten minutes to one in the morning, the former Duke woke Aaron and Lucian up, saying that he could feel some intruders trying to get into the forecourt. The dhampir stood up quickly and followed Dumas outside, while Aaron stayed inside the room, putting clean clothes on his body before leaving with the vampires. This time, he did bring the Knight with him, fully charged and ready to strike.

They left the mansion and went to the entrance, hiding behind the statues and giving orders to the hounds to go first and search for those intruders. Those intruders were no one but the gunslingers and the Dark Terrennial. The cat jumped from Ernest's arms and launched to the boy's ones, purring loudly and happily to be back with them again. Aaron hugged the cat and petted his back, happy to see him too.

"What brings all of you here?", asked Dumas.

"We have to tell you something important about the north gunslingers.", said Ernest.

"I see.", answered the dhampir. Bea walked to them but several hounds appeared before her, growling and showing their teeth. "Ah, I forgot about those..."

"It's ok.", said Bea, walking closer. She kneeled and reached with her right arm one of the hounds, but not close enough to actually touch it. "Hey boys..."

The hound leader stopped growling and started to sniff Bea's hand. He got closer to get a better smell and soon after finishing, he waved his tail back and forth. The other hounds relaxed too, and Bea could pet the hound's head without danger. She stood up and run to Aaron, hugging him tightly.

"Heavens, I was so worried!!", said the woman. "I'm so glad you are safe, kid!"

"Same.", answered Aaron. "How you been in the Guild?"

"Oh, we have been better, but we need to tell you about a certain character that might... appear under tight situations."

Nish snickered. He led the way back to the mansion and they all sat in the living room, besides the lighted fireplace, on the warm carpet. Surprisingly, Dumas curled between Nish's legs and let him circle his waist with his arms, while Aaron sat on Lucian's lap with Nero on his legs as well. The dark Terrennial soon fall asleep on them, wings folded on his back and his eyes closed, but his ears listening to what they said.

Ernest started telling about the north gunslingers and Oyan, who was currently trying to eradicate all vampires in the east cities. He proceeded to explain why he had asked for his help and Dumas and Lucian understood the leader's situation. Also, he commented about the boy that met with Oyan the same day but at morning hours and Lucian said it could be him the one that followed them when they were going to the mansion, and seemed surprised when Ernest said that he knew a few strange things about the dark swordsman.

Dumas was confident about themselves. He knew that north gunslinger's personality, and didn't fear it. Nish thought that being in the state the former Duke was, he couldn't bear a battle for five minutes. And also knew that if he said something to Dumas, he would start hitting him because of it. That's why he didn't say anything. Lucian feared about Aaron, but the boy said he could be as fierce as the north warriors. The dhampir smiled and kissed him, saying he was sure about that.

After the talk, Lucian let Aaron go with his partners for a walk in Acuna while he and the other vampires stayed in the mansion, taking care of Nero, but seemed that Perrault was his perfect nurse, because when the boy left and Lucian took the cat to his room, the female Terrennial rushed in and hugged the cat, starting to groom him with her tongue, pinning him down on the bed to prevent Nero to escape, who struggled against her. He pleaded for mercy, but Lucian grinned and left.

"Wait! Don't leave me!", yelled the black cat. Perrault's tongue rubbed his head. "Luciaaaan!!", Nero, for the first time, noticed that Toasty's torture wasn't anything compared to this.

Dumas asked Lucian to accompany him in a little walk and a little talk. The dhampir agreed, following the former Duke along the mansion and then, into the forecourt yet once again. He walked around, not talking with Lucian as he did so. Lucian noticed they were leaving the mansion's territory and went directly into a dense forest, as quiet as the night, with some crows resting on the trees and a few bats coming from the shadows. Soon, they came to a huge lake with a few stones near the deepest zone of it. A ray of Moon peeped from the thick grey clouds and illuminated the water's surface. Dumas kept walking to a stone formation at the south side of the lake and jumped on the biggest one, inviting Lucian too. The dhampir accepted it and jumped besides Dumas.

"It's nice, isn't it?", said the former Duke. "Well, tonight it's cloudy but in clear skies...", he sighed. "I used to came here with Rymer when we were free from our obligations and rest from them. In summer, the lake is filled with fireflies and crickets and during fall the red leaves fall on the waters and the sky goes very red when the Sun sets. Winter it's especial too, since the lake doesn't freeze with the low temperatures. But the water is damn cold if you thought in take bath in them.", Lucian laughed softly, smiling. "Spring... Spring is like fall. The little blooming flowers are pulled from the trees by the wind, and softly placed on the waters..."

"I never knew there was a place like this.", admitted Lucian. "I know the marsh in the south, the lakes are filled with leeches, snakes, annoying mosquitoes...", Dumas giggled. "Oh, you wouldn't laugh if you lived there."

"It's strange. Ezra told me you forgot all your childhood and puberty due to the dark powers. Why are you suddenly remembering it?"

"I don't remember everything of it. Just… pieces."

Dumas nodded.

"I want to ask... Do you really... trust me?"

Lucian arched his eyebrows.

"Sadly.", both of them laughed out loud. "You changed a lot after the last time we met. Even though Polidori lured you to kill Ratatosk and get all the power, I still think that Polidori somehow got control of you to do what he needed you to do.", he laid on the rock, hands behind his neck. Dumas copied him but crossed his legs, admiring with him the clouds on the sky. "I admit that I truly hated you for all you did but now...", he shrugged. "Aaron made me saw the other side of things. And one of the things he taught me was to not judge persons for what they did without knowing their reasons first.", he stretched up, yawning. Dumas could see his new born vampire fangs inside his mouth.

"Your fangs are cute."

"Did I hear well? Did you say 'cute'?", the former Duke groaned, but a smile adorned his face. "I thought that type of word wasn't in your vocabulary."

"Now you know that 'cute' is part of my unusual vocabulary.", he sighed again. "What are you going to do with the feeding?"

This time, it was Lucian's turn to sigh.

"I don't think I can hold my instincts down anymore.", answered with a sad tone. "I might end up losing control and attack Aaron in order to drink blood, or just run away and grab the first prey I run into.", the dhampir blinked, confused. "Prey?"

Dumas laughed.

"Don't tell me you don't know that vampires refers to humans as preys."

"Of course I know that! It just... it's a weird sound coming from me, since I don't usually do that. It really sounds odd."

"You will have to get used to it."

The dhampir grinned.

They stayed outside for a while, just staring to the cloudy sky and hearing the soft noises of the forest. The water moved slowly on the lake, the wind barely blowing. It was rare. The quietness was so rare. Where were the vampires in heat, or the ones already feeding? Could it be that they were taking cover from the next blizzard, or it was because it was too cold to be outside for most of them? Those were some questions Dumas made to himself. He had lived long enough to know how exactly those nights are and that night was sure an exception. Then, it was this other thing running in his head. The being that Perrault saw in the Sanctum, the immense power fleeing from it... The only creature capable of controlling such amount of power was Polidori, but he was dead. Lucian and Aaron took care of him four years ago. But, was there a possibility that he could remade his old body with the leftovers of the soup in the Vambery, the one he used in the beginning to play with the sweets, as he called him, on the planet to make different bodies?

But he was an Immortal. He wasn't a human at all, and what Perrault saw was a human transforming into a vampire.

Or did she?

Dumas thought that it could have been another creature who found the Sanctum safe enough to stay there for a while. What kind of creature? He didn't know, but there was a high chance it was a vampire as Perrault said. The former Duke doubt that the vampire wanted to stay more than one night in the Sanctum since it was an already taken territory, unless it didn't fear fighting the occupants of it. Even when all pointed to a new being hiding there, Dumas had this faint feeling that the one Perrault saw was Lucian. The dhampir was so close in finishing his transformation and there was a high chance that the dark powers needed to stabilize before the last step. Perhaps the release of that energy was what the Terrennial saw and felt. He wanted to ask Lucian, but he knew that the dark swordsman would lie about it.

Lucian fell asleep from the quietness, but Dumas was still musing about certain subjects concerning Nish. The night when they reached the mansion, the memories of the past flowed in the Duke's mind like a waterfall; so many happy times, so much love between him and Rymer, nothing to worry about, so perfect. The scent was still there, specially in the master bedroom, the very one that have seen a lot of things happen between Dumas and Rymer for a lot of time. The mansion itself screamed Rymer in every corner of it and he was very nostalgic about it. In a moment Rymer was there with him and in the next second, it was a blur in the mist of his past. But then, a new figure would come out of that mist and took the shape of Nish, with his warm smile, showing it to Dumas, holding him when he felt sad or upset. The former Duke sighed as he rolled to the left, facing Lucian, who was sleeping, his chest barely rising.

How did Lucian manage to overcome Ella's dead? How could he get a new chance to be loved and return that feeling? It was hard to forget your lover, but it happened eleven years ago, long time ago. Dumas couldn't understand how Lucian could move on after her dead, and how he still didn't. Was because he was emotionally weak? That would explain half of it. Being a vampire, Dumas was taught that human emotions were meaningless and useless since vampires were better than humans, and having such feelings were a sing of weakness. The day he thought that Rymer was suspiciously interesting, more than anyone he met before, the word 'love' or 'attraction' was out of his dictionary. He just thought that he made a new friend, one that perhaps wasn't going to end up killed by the gunslingers like many others did. Unknown to the Duke, the feeling was slowly growing to something else, something he knew it was labeled as a weak emotion but at the time, couldn't recognize it.

It wasn't only for Dumas. Rymer was also having the same problem, but he knew he was falling for the tyrant and cold Duke, an arrogant and self-centered bastard that only cared about himself. But the Margrave proved all of them wrong. He could see more than the thirds opinion and started to get more social with him, discovering private facts about Dumas that no one could ever think of. Rymer slowly started to feel more than a friendship with him and started to try to seduce and court the Duke. At first, the man felt horrified of something like that, specially from another man, but soon he adapted to it and loved the fact that Rymer was like that only with him. That intrigued Dumas and wanted to know why the Margrave was behaving like that, obviously not knowing that he was being courted because the other man loved him for who he was and was trying to let him know that Dumas loved him back, but was too stubborn to face that he was feeling a very natural emotion in humans and vampires, and it wasn't a sing of weakness.

It took Rymer two full years to let Dumas know about his feelings towards him, and another six months to get an answer from him. Those six months were hell for Rymer, because he didn't know if the Duke was going to risk his reputation as the cold tyrant or will give it a chance. The world of love was very, very new to the Duke and he might be afraid of entering it, but Rymer assured him that he was going to teach him a few tips, as he said.

Dumas' feelings towards the Margrave were strong and he realized it after a little chat with Virginia. Women were the professionals in terms of emotions, and no one but them could understand better what an indecisive man like Dumas wanted or felt towards a certain someone, and the Viscountess helped a lot in Dumas' decisions about his feelings towards Rymer and deciding in getting in a love relationship with him. At first, Dumas refused to get kissed on the lips and only let Rymer kiss his cheeks or forehead. Later on the Duke, after some inner struggling, let the Margrave kiss him on his mouth after a few months. Dumas felt embarrassed somehow, but the shame would soon fade away at the simple scent of Rymer, his sight or thoughts.

Rymer was an extremely patient being with Dumas. Sometimes he would go nuts with Dumas' negatives, specially the first months in where his new lover didn't want to get kissed on his lips, and calmed himself talking with Perrault or Virginia, his personal psychologist as he liked to call her. The Viscountess gave him a lot of suggestions, most of them succeeded, and finally, he could kiss Dumas on the mouth. After that, it was easy for Dumas to loose up and hang around with Rymer like a real loving couple, cuddling in public and sharing tender kisses in common places in the castle, to everyone's sight. Four years after, they mated. Perrault was very happy that her master had changed thanks to Rymer and also because he found someone to be with for the rest of his life. Besides, the Margrave was a very kind man and liked to be around him. Perrault felt that Dumas' life was going to be lightly up side down because he was trying to adjust himself to be a new kind of person around Rymer and in front of others.

After his dead, after they beat Polidori and he revived thanks to Perrault's work, he heard from her that every Terrennial could guard a bit of the already dead vampire's souls unconsciously, so it could be feasible that Ursula had a small piece of Rymer's soul in her. With the leftovers in the Vambery Tower of the soup, they should be able to revive him like Perrault did with him, but it all depended in Ursula's will and how strong was the soul in her. After four years, the power it could be degraded and even bonded with the fire Terrennial without knowing. With this, it was going to be nearly impossible to revive him. After thinking the worst thing, Dumas gave up in reviving his fallen love and ended up walking between humans again, trying to not be recognized as the Duke. Surprisingly, most vampires, the ones that weren't in the so called Circle, welcomed him and helped him in recovering from such lose. Perrault remembered a time where Dumas couldn't stand it anymore and cried in front of a hundred of vampires, yelling that he was sorry for everything he did and didn't deserved the mercy and help of them. Later on, he discovered that a child from the Guild said that the Duke wasn't acting on his own, but rather being controlled by the Immortal Polidori and that's why he did what he did. The former Duke couldn't believe that Aaron, since it was the first one it came into mind, said such things. With those thoughts, he left in finding a place where to live for now on.

"Why did Aaron started that rumor?", asked Dumas, feeling that Lucian was already awake, but had his eyes closed. The dhampir smiled.

"I thought he lost it the first time I heard him.", he opened his eyes and followed Dumas' gaze, up on the sky. Dumas was again on his back, facing the clouds. "But it had some sense in his words. When we knew that Polidori had the ability of controlling creatures at will, Aaron thought if you weren't being controlled against your will and doing things you perhaps didn't want to do. Then, I thought you were controlled since the beginning, when you were under Ratatosk's orders."

"I can assure you I wasn't."

"I figured."

"But, how is that Aaron still said that? After all, I killed his father."

"People changes in time. Even if it is a small amount of it. Why are you so confused about it? Why can't you just accept that Aaron forgave you?"

"Because of what my race have taught me about humans.", explained Dumas. "My race says that humans are revengeful and they will seek revenge when they can to avenge those killed ones by the hands of the murdered. In this case, I am. So, why Aaron didn't do it yet?"

"It's not what he was taught.", Dumas seemed lost and Lucian laughed at that. "You said it yourself. You think that way because of what your... creator or friends or anyone of your race taught you. Aaron thinks the way he does because of what his parents taught him."

"Both of them died when he was young, I don't know how they could... Oh...", interrupted himself. "Ernest and Kay."

"Exactly.", Lucian smiled. "Don't relay in only half of the truth. You might get surprised at the end. Are you done now with those questions?"

"Well, not really...", admitted Dumas.

"For fuck's sake...", mumbled the dhampir. "I'm out of here. I'm tired of listening to your complains about how humans are like this or like that."

"Then who will patiently listen to my oh so bad complains about how some humans do not do what they are supposed to do?", Lucian looked at him, with his eyebrows frowned.

"Any rock or wall will do."

But Dumas was offended by that.

"Fuck you!", he yelled, hitting Lucian on his forehead.

"Ow! Asshole! Why did you hit me?! It's true!", replied, trying to stop Dumas from hitting him a second time.

"There are better things that a wall or a rock to listen to me!!"

"Yeah! Like the people you bossed around four years ago, right?!"

The Duke snapped, and gave Lucian a hard headbutt with his horns. Lucian screamed in pain and shoved Dumas off, trying to reincorporate. His head was spinning and he could only hear his blood rushing to his ears and could only see a faint blur.

"Ow, Heavens... It hurts...", whined the dhampir, lying on the rock once more, very dizzy.

"I hope my horns aren't damaged after that hit.", said Dumas, truly worried about them.

"Don't worry, they aren't harder than my head...shit...", replied Lucian.

"Wait. That wasn't right. You should have insulted me. Why you didn't?", Dumas spun around and watched as Lucian tried to stand on his feet.

"Don't make me bite you..."

The horned vampire laughed.

"I'm not that tasty.", he snorted and helped Lucian to stand up, putting an arm around his waist and the other above his shoulders. "Besides, since when you bite people?"

"Since I have these fucking and annoying fangs. And a sudden urge to drink blood.", Lucian remembered the taste of Aaron's blood from their lovemaking and that made him shiver in excitement. "I can't wait..."

"Tsk, I was right then.", he started to walk and the dhampir followed his pace. "You are a whore."

"Oh, fuck you Dumas.", said Lucian with a smile on his face.


	11. Chapter 11

**Fixed some mistakes, Re-Upload.**

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11

The most popular area of Acuna was still awake when Aaron and the rest arrived to it. The restaurants were open to the public until late those nights and there were some small bars offering dance shows while eating a nice dinner. A few huge shop places were open too, and Bea couldn't resist and dragged Ernest with her, leaving Kay with Aaron waiting in the indoor garden.

"How are you doing?", asked Kay when they found an empty sit. The lights hidden in the plants made irregular patterns on the dark ceiling.

"Good, but is quiet strange.", Aaron crossed his legs on the bench, leaning on him and watching the lights. "It's like I'm one of them but at the same time, I'm not."

"It happens.", answered with a smile on his face. Kay looked at the young one. "When I was younger, before I even thought of joining the Guild, I had problems in my town due to my canine appearance. Most of the children feared me, thinking me and my family were servants of the vampires, that we were pet-beasts, as they often called me.", he sighed, putting his arms behind his head. "I thought that vampires were the ones that made my family suffer when I was still with them. In a way, I started believing the things they were saying about the pet-beast, and once I confronted my dad, thinking he lied to me about that."

"You still think that?"

Kay laughed.

"For a long time, yes, I thought that. I was young and had another view of the things. But latter on, I noticed how stupid I was. When I wanted to return and apologize, my father... well...", he put his paws on his lap. "It didn't go that well..."

"You argued with him?"

"Not an arguing... he just opened the door, looked at me and said 'Who are you?'."

Aaron gasped.

"Wait! He didn't recognize you? How? You were his son!"

"Parents don't recognize their children when they turn against the family.", he pointed to himself. "My case, for example."

"What did you do then?"

"I was shocked. I couldn't believe it. When I told him who I was, he shocked his head and said he didn't have any son called 'Kay'. The one he knew died a few years back. And shut the door on my face.", Aaron stood still, not knowing what to say. "I cried for the next week, feeling lonely, with no home, no family because I did have nothing left besides myself. I learned how to survive in the streets before Trinity picked me up."

"How long you lived in the streets?"

"Let's see... I'm near my forties... I ran of home at age of seventeen... Almost ten years."

"That long?! How you managed to do it?", asked surprised Aaron.

"Oh, basic instinct, I guess.", said Kay with a sad smile. "It wasn't the best of the experiences in life, but I had to do it. Besides, not knowing how to work or having finished my studies, I couldn't get a proper job to work with. Although, I'm happy I didn't. Otherwise, I wouldn't have met your father."

"What did he say when he saw you?"

Kay started to laugh out loud, suddenly remembering that time.

"Oh, it was funny, at last for me.", answered with a smile on his face. "I learned to steal food to survive and I was about to steal some food from a greengrocer's shop when the owner spotted me. He started yelling to me and some gunslingers started to follow me on the road. I managed to lost them walking in the hallways I knew so well, but I grew over confident. When I wanted to notice, Trinity was standing in front of me and hit me, hard, with one of his guns."

"He hit you?", Aaron couldn't believe it.

"Well, after he dragged me into the Guild, he told me that he didn't hit me, it was Sartana."

"Wait, Lucian?", Kay nodded. "Oh, so, he was already in the Guild when you came."

"Along with Ernest. I was the last one of the four in get there.", he laughed again. "I can't believe that I'm still alive after the hit. The asshole hit me with the Witch. Damn, I cursed him for so long I can't remember."

"And what was your reaction?"

"That I wanted to kill him, of course!!", Aaron giggled. "I was tied up, and I growled at Sartana but he mocked me and made fun of me, but certainly, he knew I had some kind of... talent? He untied me, and I was about to launch at him when Trinity stopped him and proposed to work with them, because of my knowledge of the territory of the town. I refused several times, but Ernest was the one convincing me into getting in."

"What did he tell you?"

"I can't remember, but something about slaying vampires. I accepted and the one that trained me was no one else but Sartana, and I suffered that training so much, but it made me in the man I'm today, so I'm grateful for that.", he sighed. "He sure was a sadist."

Aaron laughed hard and loudly.

"Oh, geez! So much like Lucian today, uh?"

"In that aspect, he didn't change that much. He still likes pain.", Kay looked at the boy. "Enough of me. What about you? Is he treating you well?"

"Yes, he is. He is quiet sweet, actually. At least with me."

"It's natural, you are his mate now. Vampires and half vampires tend to do that."

"So it's also natural that they treat others, that is not me, in a more harsh manner?", Kay nodded. "He changed a bit his attitude, too...", Aaron put his hands on each leg. "He is more calm and patient, when Lucian usually goes straight forwards and kills anything that is on his way. Now, he thinks a way to beat them or... or... goes berserk, letting his true nature come out and kill..."

"I have this feeling that tells me you have seen how Lucian killed."

Aaron nodded.

"The north gunslingers. He slashed them all, with his spear and his sword. And after doing, after showing how fierce he can get, Lucian came to my side, hugged me and softly asked me if I was alright.", he sighed. "It's so weird for me that I fear I might not get used to it."

"Why? You are already used. You have been with him for about four years and you never complained about it. Are you scared that you might not be able to be... accepted into the circle of vampires or will live quietly?", the boy blushed but nodded. "Don't worry about that, we will help you out with this. You can count with Ernest, Bea and me."

"I know, but... I'm confused. I'm supposed to be a vampire slayer and I'm here, with a dhampir that is close to becoming a vampire. What should I do? If I keep this, then I feel like I'm killing Lucian somehow...", he sighed loudly. "I don't know. Fuck, I need to talk with Toasty even if he fucked up a lot of things in this situation."

Kay laughed again.

"Oh, I'm sure you need. We will try to talk with Lucian about it. I don't think he will want us to 'kidnap' you."

"It's the last thing he needs."

Ernest and Bea returned a few minutes later and the four of them proceeded to find a place were to eat something. They walked in the streets and a bar was opened with available tables for them. They sat and ordered, and Ernest talked with Aaron about what happened while he was with the vampires, details that they didn't say when they were in the mansion. Aarons listened carefully. He truly feared Oyan now, but was curious why the spy didn't know about him, since he sticks up with the vampires from the beginning. But since he was with them, he decided to not worry about that for the moment and enjoy their company and free time they have.

It was past three in the morning when they finished eating and chatting in the bar, and Aaron suggested walking a bit after the good food they have. They agreed. After they paid, they left the bar and went to the illuminated park for a walk. There were several people resting on the benches, reading, walking their pets or simple being in the park, the only quiet place to stay and enjoy the loneness. Aaron remembered times in where he and Toasty would rest on the benches, hearing the nothingness of the park early in the mornings, just after finishing a long mission. But there was another reason why Aaron didn't want to return to the mansion yet. The moon's phase. Lucian would be waiting for him to return and try to drink his blood to become a full vampire for once, but the young one is not going to let that happen. He still hoped for a way to neutralize the curse and bring the dark swordsman to his initial form. Although, a small part of him knew there was no cure for it and wanted him to finalize his transforming, but Aaron didn't pay attention to it.

He thought that, to buy more time, he could go and talk to Toasty for a while. He could return to the mansion, talk with Lucian and then leave again with Ernest and the others to the Guild or at the Inn in Acuna they rented, but didn't know how to 'disappear' for the next few days and not be at Lucian's side and prevent him to feed up. Well, since Toasty doesn't want him to stick with him in that phase, he could ask him for a good place to stay until the moon changed its phase again and was safe to be around. He could bring that old book with him to read and not get too bored while waiting. It was a good plan, but when they arrived to the mansion two hours later, Dumas grabbed Aaron by his hands and excused himself, dragging the boy to one of the rooms of the mansion. Locking it from the inside, the former Duke turned around, smiling to him.

"I'm sorry I dragged you like this, but I need to discuss a few things with you with no one to interrupt us.", said Dumas, sitting on a chair. Aaron picked one and sat in front of him.

"It's alright; I don't think they would mind."

"Good, good.", he nodded silently to himself. Then, he looked at Aaron. "Well, it's about Lucian.", the boy knew, and knew that the former Duke was going to ask him to be his food source and let him go to the final step. "As you might know and you might have guessed, I want you to share your blood with him.", Aaron tightened his fits. "I know you don't want to, but listen. Lucian has been trying to get out of here and hunt by himself, not being able to control his instincts anymore, as he told me before you left with the gunslingers, and I worry about him.", the boy sighed. "I know, but if he hunts alone or feeds up from anyone but you, it might be possible that he loses his memories of us, more special from you."

"Please, Dumas… I don't want to, I just don't want him to transform into a vampire. If he does, I don't know what I would do anymore."

"Don't be so extremist.", said the former Duke with a smile on his face. "If your father was alive, I guess that he would tell you to go on with your relationship with Lucian, vampire or not."

"How could you know if you killed him?", asked in a harsh tone. But Dumas wasn't offended nor sad or angry about it.

"Because I knew him better before you could even talk or walk.", answered instead. "Go, go and ask to the gunslingers if I'm wrong. They will tell you the same thing I did. If you need to go and talk with Toasty, then go ahead and do it if you think it will help of something. But keep in mind this; Nish and I will not oblige Lucian to stay in the mansion if he doesn't want to or if he becomes way too aggressive for us to handle."

"Why, thanks for your immense help with this.", said Aaron, a sarcasm tone in his voice.

"Don't get bitchy on me, brat!", Dumas raised his voice, starting to get pissed. "It's his decision too, to become a vampire or not. It's not only yours opinion what it counts in this. If you want to risk his memories for a stupid whim, then you are free to leave and return when you want. But I tell you, Lucian has high chances in losing them if you are not here. And if he does, I hope you don't get to me crying like a baby for it, because I will not console you for something I warned you."

Dumas stood up and unlocked the door, leaving Aaron alone in the room, to think about he said. The young one, angered, kicked the chair in front of him and hid his face into his arms. He started sobbing and then, started crying. He was so stressed, so scared. He didn't know what to do. Was the best letting Lucian drink his blood? Was the best to leave and return later? What if what Dumas told him happens? He didn't want Lucian to forget about him. He loved him and wanted to spend his life with him, but what about his duty as gunslinger? Would be able to work as a vampire slayer having one as a mate? It's like betraying Lucian, or Dumas or Nish, who were so kind to let them live by their sides and help them in wherever they could, or to those vampires that lived perfectly between humans and had befriended with them. He would have to quit, he would have to let his guns rest in their wood boxes, the very ones that Trinity received from the former leader of the Guild when he was chosen to be the next one.

But, what about all he did with him the past four years? Would affect his new decision of quitting? Would the others accept it? What about Ernest and the others? What will happen with them if he decides to stay with Lucian but renounce at his father's legacy? All was so hard for him to handle. Besides, there wasn't a single city or town that welcomed vampires or liked them enough to let them live there. They would be rejected wherever they go. The only place they would be safe was probably the vampire circle, but Aaron didn't know if he was going to be accepted there. He knew about small groups of vampires living in the underground in Acuna and Culiacan, they might help them, as well as not help them at all. If no one wanted to then, what will happen to them, to him and Lucian? Between his dying sobs, Aaron laughed. They would have to live in the streets, as Kay did for ten years.

"Hey…", the boy jumped on his seat at the sudden voice that he heard in the room. He turned around and smiled. Lucian walked to him and hugged Aaron, rubbing his back. "Dumas told me. If you want to leave then do it. I will be fine."

"It's not that…", his tears were now dry, but his eyes were still red from all his crying. "I just… don't know anymore.", Lucian laughed softly and made Aaron sit on the table, making him hug him by his neck, to hid his face on his neck, starting to cry again. "I don't know what to do. I want to stay with you, but I don't want you to become a vampire. What would I do then, as a gunslinger? I can't go out and keep killing them, now having Dumas and Nish as friends. And more precisely you, that you are my mate and so…"

"Perhaps you need time to think, to let your mind clarify, and then, make your decision.", he kissed his neck softly, smiling again. "I want to let you know that the decision you make will not affect the relationship you have with Toasty or those gunslingers that are your friends or your friends at all. They will understand and accept it."

Aaron sighed.

"You think so?"

"Of course. If they don't, they wouldn't be your friends, would they?", Lucian looked at his mate. Aaron shivered, once more, at the sight of the crimson eyes, but smiled afterwards. He will have to get used to them.

"So, is it ok with you if I leave for a day or two?", he nodded. "Will you be alright? I worry that you might end up in a fight with the north gunslingers while I'm away."

"I told you, I will be fine. I can handle myself one more day.", the dhampir kissed Aaron's lips. "Besides, it will be better if you are not here when the north gunslingers gets into the mansion. I can focus in killing them rather than killing them and protecting you at the same time."

Aaron giggled. They kissed again.

"I can by my own. I'm not a child anymore. In a few days I will be seventeen."

"You still act like a brat.", he laughed, but the boy pouted and hit his arm.

"That was mean! What I have to say about you, then?"

Lucian laughed softly, hugging Aaron tightly. He kissed him again and licked his lips.

"That you are the luckiest human on the planet to have such wonderful vampire as a mate…", the boy giggled. "That even if he is a bit bitchy, he loves you so deeply and will do anything to protect you."

"A bit bitchy?", said Aaron. "Don't you mean always?", Lucian gasped in purpose, like trying to look offended, but laughed afterwards, snuggling on him and kissing his neck softly.

"Mm, your scent makes me want to eat you…", whispered with husky voice, licking the boy's neck, hungrily.

"I-Is that so?", the boy tried to push Lucian off softly, but the dhampir didn't let him. "Ah, Lucian…!", he could feel the tender nibbles on his neck, as well as tentative bites, like trying to find the best place to sink those long fangs. "Ouch!", yelled in pain when Lucian made him lay on the table a bit roughly. "Stop it! Come on, Lucian! Stop!"

The dhampir purred, firmly grabbing the boy's legs with his owns, preventing Aaron to kick him and escape. His strong arms held him in place on the table. He didn't want the boy to suddenly move and hurt him with his fangs. Aaron could feel the sharp edges of them, shivering in fear when they cut his skin, teasing the flesh and letting small drops of blood pour from the tiny scratch. His hot tongue rolled over it, tasting the warm liquid, moaning in the back of his throat. Lucian could feel that Aaron managed to free one of his arms, but couldn't see what was his next move, because all what he felt was a shot of pain on his left side of his face.

Lucian groaned in pain, but successfully gaining his conscious again. He looked down at the scared expression of Aaron, at his chest rising rapidly and the tiny, bleeding cut he just did with his fangs. Lucian smiled sadly.

"Seems that I can't control myself as I thought.", he whispered, rubbing his left side of his face. He walked away from the boy, letting him sit on the edge of the table, calming down. "I'm sorry…", said before disappearing in the shadows.

"Wait, Lucian!", but he was gone. Aaron sighed and got down of the table. He knew that it was going to be hard not only for him, but also for the dhampir. "Don't be sorry…", he said to the air, but knowing that Lucian might have heard him. "It's not your fault."

The boy left and walked towards his room, finding Perrault curled up on their bed and Nero sitting by the window. The black cat turned around and smiled at him, saying he already knew what was going on after he heard their little chat. Aaron was amazed how good Nero's hearing was. So now that the cat knew everything, he simple asked him to accompany while he was away, if Perrault didn't mind. Nero accepted immediately, since he wanted to get as far as he could from her for a good while. He was starting to hate those grooming sessions.

Aaron, trying to make as little noise as possible, started to pack up his things in the bag, but left a few shirts for Lucian. Those cloths had his scent and it might help the dhampir while he was away, as his jacket did the same back in the Inn. The boy took said jacket and put it on, hanging the bag on his shoulder, taking the book on his left hand and Nero over his shoulder; he left the room and went to see the vampires and gunslingers, saying he was ready to leave. Nish and Dumas hugged him tightly, and Ezra did the same, petting him and trying to fix his wild hair. When she noticed that it was way too hard, she gave up, kissed both his cheeks and waved a good bye when he and the others left the mansion.

Some hounds escorted them to the gates and Aaron petted them, saying he was going to be out for a single day and ordered them to take care of the vampires. The hounds whined and turned back, walking to the forecourt. As they walked out, Aaron asked himself what would be the best place to stay without Lucian knowing about it. If the dhampir knew, then he probably would go there and try to drink his blood. It was going to be hard. He didn't want to return to the Inn, because it was going to be very obvious, the cottage was in bad shape after the blizzard, the Guild… The Guild could be a nice place, but with Oyan and his men going from here to there will be very uncomfortable for the boy, especially after what Ernest told him. Besides, he didn't want the spy to find out about him and his relationship with Lucian. They would use it against him, so it should be extremely closed to human contact and not be a frequented place. The mountains would be perfect. The vampires are not in heat anymore and it should be safe enough to stay alone in the wild, with Nero's and his Knight's company. But they would decide that after arriving to Acuna again, to the east side of it, near New Culiacan, to sit and examine their options.

Surprisingly, Toasty was there too, apparently waiting for them. He was so glad to find that Aaron was safe that almost broke into tears of happiness. After a long talk with him, Toasty accepted going with him and Nero until Lucian's feeding time was out. The light Terrennial was also desperate to talk with the young boy, wanting to know everything. They left right away. Nero and Aaron followed Toasty along, not asking where were they going, as they walked past a forest and went directly to the mountains, as the young expected. The completely silence was something new. Aaron remembered the nights of the mating and couldn't believe how quiet it was.

The cottage was all covered with snow; the ceiling had collapsed due to the snow on it and couldn't be used again. But Toasty kept floating forwards, going to the west side of the forest, where he found a big, robust tree. The leaves were still bright green and its branches were really thick, enough for Aaron to lay down on them and not worrying in falling from it. They helped the boy climb up, to the top, where he could admire the beautiful sight the tree gave him of the nearby cities such as Acuna, Old Culiacan and New Culiacan. The Dark Castle was barely seen because of how decayed it was and the sun setting was illuminating the lands over the mountains in the north, place from where the north gunslingers came.

Aaron never went there. Ernest often told him that the lands on the other side of the mountains were very dangerous, even his father would think it twice before going. But he never knew why. Every time he asked, the elders shrugged and whispered to his ears terrific stories about the Undead living there. After a while, he stopped doing questions about it, truly fearing those stories, not the truth. Aaron then thought if his fear for Oyan was created by those child stories. It could be, since after knowing he was from the north, he started to feel nervous at each move Ernest told him about Oyan. Just now, he noticed how childish he was behaving. Lucian was right at calling him brat. Aaron laughed softly, catching Toaty's and Nero's attention, who were resting on each shoulder of the boy. Aaron was resting against the trunk of the tree, very comfortable, feeling the soft breeze blowing up there.

"Why did you laugh?", asked the light Terrennial.

"I just remembered something that Lucian told me before leaving.", he sighed. "The elders often told me stories about the north lands, on the other side of the mountains, very terrific that made me really scared about the Undead living there. I was thinking that my fear for Oyan, perhaps, was only because of those stories.", he laughed again. "Yes, Lucian was right in calling me brat."

Nero chuckled under his breath, nodding in agreement.

"You should not worry about him. Ernest can deal with him perfectly.", assured moments later.

"I don't doubt of Ernest's techniques, but after seeing such weaponry from the north gunslingers, I know we don't stand a chance at all.", said Aaron, petting his head. The cat purred happily. "Not even the Witch or the Bomber, one of the most powerful guns in the Guild, can match that. Sheridan will have a very hard time trying to upgrade them."

"He could try.", added Toasty, smiling. "We will need those upgrades against the north gunslingers."

"Are you saying that there is going to be a fight with them and us?", asked the young boy.

"It's very feasible.", answered Toasty.

"What about the vampires living in the cities? In our cities?", whispered Aaron to them. "I know gunslingers are supposed to kill them, to make a… 'better place' for humans, but what if they also dislikes them? Could it be that the might help us in getting rid of them?"

"Not impossible, just very improbable.", said Nero. "We can try to convince them but I doubt it."

Aaron sighed.

"I so hate this."

"We do too.", said Toasty. "We will find a way, eventually. Everything finds a way.", he transformed into his human form and rested besides the boy, petting his head softly. "The important thing to us is, what do you want to do?"

"I want to protect you guys… Everyone, actually.", he smiled sadly. "More especial those who I care for."

"That's a nice beginning.", whispered Nero. "What will you do after all this ends?"

Aaron sighed again.

"I don't know. I want to stay here, because it's here where my home is, where my family lives, where my friends are. I can't think any other place to be. Because if I do, I will be lonely, even having Lucian's company.", the boy rested besides Toasty's chest, letting the Terrennial circle his right arm around his small body. "I'm starting to feel that the things I read in that book might be possible, seeing how many vampires are living in the cities. I don't say that there will never be another war, they will be always exist, but the idea that Dumas once thought, the idea of an utopia, it's not… so far if you think about it. Several years ago, perhaps even before Lucian's and my father's births, I could say even years ago, it could happen that vampires and humans lived in a small place where the war was not in their everyday life's, but before they could see it the war was all over them, and killed those who opposed to the will of the strongest."

"You have no idea, how right you are.", whispered Nero, looking at the sunset. "There was a time like that, but now is completely gone.", then, he looked at the faint moon appearing on the sky with its silver light. "There once was a couple of different bloodline that fell in love, and tried to live quietly."

"The Lunar and Solar children?", said Toasty. Nero nodded.

"It was so weird. How could the light and the life be in love with the darkness and death? Even then, both had sons, the two of them having their parent's bloodline very deep inside them."

"One of them, taken away of his loving family, to be trained and used as an experiment with Dark Matter, and used to fight his own brother in order to probe he was better than the light and life. His father died, and his mother was taken as hostage and later fused with her own sister, who wanted her powers to end the cycle of life, to prevent the world from collapse.", continued Toasty, with a sad tone in his voice. "The last heritage of the Solar Children ignored the existence of his brother and fought against him without knowing it, but was happy to see that even when his brother hated him for staying in the family that he never had, he still cared for him even if he didn't want to admit it.", he smiled, suddenly remembering. "Ratatosk… It seems so long…"

"What do you mean?", said Aaron. "Did you really know him after all?"

"Oh, more than you think.", Toasty laughed. "And I also knew that friend your father had before becoming the gunslinger he was. He wanted to honor him by putting his name to you, but I think his wife didn't let him."

"Who… he was?", Aaron grew interested. He didn't know that Toasty knew things like that.

"He was Solar Boy Django, the last Solar Child. His brother was the Dark Boy Sabata, older than him and the one that was captured and taken away from his family."

"How do you know them?", this time, Nero smiled and was the one who answered.

"He lost his previous form after he and Sabata sealed Vanargandr on Paradise, the Lunar Sanctuary on the Moon, but lived long enough to be at the boy's side for a long time."

"Wait, if he sealed Vanargandr in the Moon, how could Lord of Destruction manipulate him to control the world?"

"Dimension Traveling or Time Traveling. I can't know for sure how it went, but the thing is that even if Django managed to kill Ratatosk and free his brother from Vanargandr's hands, the future didn't have any changes at all, meaning that the thing that happened in the past was part of another timeline, that did not affected directly to our future.", answered Toasty, frowning his eyebrows. "I could be wrong, but either way, I'm still here."

"That's for sure.", said Nero with a smile.

"Wait!", Aaron yelled, suddenly. "Was it Django his name?", Toasty nodded and saw the boy grabbing the book. He opened it and went to the last pages of it, finding on one the author of the book. "It's him! He wrote this book!"

"Who? Django?", said Nero. Aaron nodded.

"Then…. Then… How did he manage to survive, if when my father went to the 'past' to change history it didn't change at all?"

Toasty couldn't believe it.

"I accompanied him in the Sealed Prison until he died there because I could not trespass the door and the dark barrier around it. I even disappeared not so long after he passed away."

"Unless he wasn't death when you disappeared from the Sealed Prison. But doesn't respond how he got out from it, unless he had dark powers…"

"The vampire blood!", yelled the light Terrennial. "He was bitten by his father, who was transformed into one by the Count of Bloodsoaking Ground. His Lunar Blood prevent him to turn into a full one… Oh Heavens! Maybe he managed to survive after all! As a dhampir like Lucian!", he stood up, walking on the branch, really nervous about the matter. "Vampires can not feed for years, surviving only of their immortality. Besides, Django can control dark power. He could have done a simple spell to retrieve the dark barrier of the prison… But, why didn't he try to do it by himself? He didn't needed me at all…", the last sentence faded off, when he finally sat on the branch, his right hand under his chin, thinking. "He could easily do all those things without problems… Why he didn't?"

"Unless he tried, but failed.", said Nero. "He tried to defeat Ratatosk and save his brother, but ended up too wounded or sealed in another dimension, and now that Ratatosk is dead, could return."

"It's possible. Ratatosk had this ability to send humans to other dimensions. Trinity returned from one of them thanks to his mother's poncho…", explained Toasty. "Yes, since Ratatosk is dead, the spell broke and Django could return. But it was eleven years ago, and the books are from times before that."

"Could he have done it by himself? Using his dark powers to break the spell and return?", suggested Aaron in a whisper.

"I see no other way.", said Toasty.

"Why didn't he helped my father and other gunslingers to defeat Ratatosk when he returned?", asked the boy, a bit angry now.

"His solar gun doesn't work like the ones you know. He needs pure sunlight to charge them and use them. It's not like you that using the Terrennial's power can charge and use them at the same time, and since Byron was blocking the Sun, Django could have done nothing.", answered the light Terrennial. "Besides, he didn't know anyone in this era and probably feared that Ratatosk founds and kills him for once, so he might have hid somewhere until now. If he couldn't beat Ratatosk before, now with Vanargandr's powers, could be impossible for him and in his health state."

"I understand…", whispered Aaron, petting Nero once again. "Would you like to find him, Toasty?"

"Eh?", he looked away. "I don't know, after what I have done… if he is still alive, of course. I will not know how to face him after I left him in the prison all by himself. Having to fight against Sabata again, without me to support Django…", he sighed with sadness. "For now, I don't want to. Perhaps after we get over with this situation."

Nero and Aaron agreed silently, staring now at the stared nigh sky. The moon was already out and the sun set long ago. The night creatures were slowly waking up and the gunslingers will probably get ready to do their usual nocturne patrol, and the vampires will try to hide from them, to not be killed or risk other's life.

But little did they know, that a figure was hiding in the shadows, a figure that followed them since they split at the gates of the mansion, a figure that now was smiling at the information he got and was now climbing off the tree to run at Oyan's side to tell him all he just discovered.

If what Toasty told was true, then he was still alive, under the disguise of the dark swordsman Lucian.


	12. Chapter 12

**(Fixed some mistakes, Re-Upload.)**

**I****'m sorry!! Xx I completely forgot to upload it. School has being a pain in the ass, and I have been tired as hell. I want to thank you guys for the reviews you put in this story! I'm very glad you like it so far!**

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12

It was too good to be truth. He suspected that he wasn't going to discover anything new by following them, but this feeling in his stomach would not fade away. Therefore, he decided against it, following them, hiding in the shadows of the night, to the tree. When he heard the story, he was about to faint of joy. It was what he needed! Since the first time that Oyan came to the east cities and from the first time he asked to follow those vampires that run away from the cottage, he had this feeling that he had known Lucian from time before, but couldn't remember where. Now, he was damn sure that it was that person, the one who was long ago in the same side before everything went down.

He found Oyan lying on his bed, resting after a hard day at work. He woke him up, knocking on the window, and Oyan let him in. The spy entered the room and sat on the chair, giving a triumph sigh.

"You look happy.", said the gunslinger, lying on his bed again. "What did you discover this time?"

"Something really interesting. Remember Trinity's son?", Oyan nodded. "Looks like he is very fond of the dark swordsman."

"It doesn't surprise me, seeing how young the boy is."

"Not that way. I think they have a certain intimate relationship."

"It's absurd!", yelled the man. "He was raised by Trinity and lived inside the Guild. Why he would have an affair with a dhampir who is relative close to transforming into a vampire?"

"Who knows?", answered the boy, fixing his glasses. "They have been together for four years now. Maybe in that time, they friendship developed in something more deep, like love.", he laughed at Oyan's skeptic expression. "Love can change the way we see things. Maybe it's what happened to Trinity's son.", he was deliberately omitting Toasty's story. After all, Oyan only wanted to know about the dark swordsman's life to see if he was a potential enemy. But the information about Aaron being a possible mate of him, would made a twist in this problem, as Oyan called it. "You can use this to your advantage."

"Kidnapping him? It's a good idea, but Ernest is a man to fear."

"You have me. I can think of something."

"What do you suggest, then?"

"Trinity's son is now in the old oak in the mountains, with the dark and light Terrennials. I assume it's because he doesn't want to share his blood with the dark swordsman for obvious reasons.", said the spy. "If we capture him while he is in the tree, we might be able to tame the dhampir's wild nature and make him do what you want."

"...It's too risky.", the boy was surprised to hear him say that. Normally, Oyan would not mind taking high risks.

"Why do you hesitate? You are not like this."

"I have fought against vampires alone, not using their mates to lure them. I agree it's a good idea, but if we can't control Trinity's son or not be able to calm down the dhampir either, it would be like if we haven't done anything."

"Trust me, it will work out."

The spy left the room. Oyan made himself comfortable on the bed, looking at the ceiling. It didn't pass a minute that the gunslinger was out of the room and following the boy, telling him to put the plan in action.

Oyan decided to move at midnight. Aaron would be awake by then but that wasn't the worst of all. The gunslinger feared the Terrennials accompanying him up in the tree. Oyan knew about all of them, but didn't know their full potential, specially the dark Terrennial. They could work with Toasty, since they had shields that reflected the light... That's it! The shields! They could use them to reflect the light directly to the dark Terrennial and defeat it faster. When he is down, Aaron and Toasty would likely stop and surrender to help their friend rather than keep fighting. Oyan smiled, while choosing the weapon for today's hunt. That's why Trinity didn't succeed the first's years when he joined the Guild. He had emotions, and emotions in war mean weakness. Weakness means failure, and failure means death. His soldiers were superior because they didn't have emotions, they didn't have weakness. No family, no friends, nothing but themselves.

The main room, at last in the section that Ernest left at Oyan's orders, was full with his men, all of them waiting for new orders, ready to go out and hunt vampires and undead. But they weren't prepared for what their leader suggested. He wanted to bring a human mate to lure the real vampire to kill. They were unsure. They never did that type of mission before. Would it be a success like the previous ones or they would end up all dead? Ending dead wasn't what they feared the most, but the failure of the mission. Besides, the target was with two of the seven Terrennials, both of them very powerful. But Oyan calmed them down saying that the best way to do the mission was to take down the dark Terrennial first. The target and the second Terrennial would surrender after it. The soldiers grew confident of themselves. They were dismissed from the room and each one, a total of fifty, went directly to their shared rooms to take their weapons. And when the clock on the wall announced midnight, they were heading out of the Guild, with Oyan leading them.

Alexander, who was hiding behind a wall, decided to follow them, not liking the number of gunslingers going in patrol that night. Since he was an owl, his wings did no sound when he flew behind them. This made the task easier and since no one, besides Oyan, could feel they were being watch or followed Alexander could get close to the group without problems. It was strange that so suddenly Oyan went out with all the gunslingers that he brought from the north. Something must have caught his attention or a very important prey was out. It was odd because besides the former Duke, there was no other out there that important to catch. Unless they found out the Duke's hideout, which was the mansion, and decided to take him down for once. Or Oyan have decided that it was too risky to leave Lucian alive, even if he in the past was a gunslinger or killed vampires. When a human lost its humanity, they become a monster that must be killed to prevent other humans to be killed or to the planet be unbalanced between the dead and the alive. But Alexander wasn't convinced from those thoughts. There was something else in this, but what?

He knew what Oyan hates, what is his dream, how he moves, with who he moves. Could it be that the spy told him something? It must be, otherwise he wouldn't have moved in the middle of the night with all his men. What, he didn't know. Alexander kept following them until he noticed that the soldiers started to split apart in groups of five. Oyan kept leading them alone, whispering in the dark the orders to them, walking closer and closer to the old Oak, which Alexander recognized immediately. The wind Terrennial started to suspects about the original plan when he remembered that Aaron, Nero and Toasty were staying up there. What would Oyan do if he captures them? It will only make Lucian furious...

"Oh no!", he whispered, taking his human form and slashing down the first closest soldier to him when he saw them move. "Toasty!!", he yelled from behind, making not Oyan but the other forty-eight men turn around. "Toasty! Get the hell out of here!", he screamed again.

"Silence him!", ordered Oyan.

Alexander stood in place, ready to strike with his sword. The soldiers, about twenty of them, were in place to strike too. The wind Terrennial smiled as he dashed at sound speed, slashing them all with a single swing of the sword. The soldiers didn't have any chance with him. He was far too fast for them to react. But Oyan didn't care for them; he kept walking forwards, noticing movement at the top of the tree. He cursed. The two Terrennials up there must have heard the samurai yell at them. Now what? It seemed now very difficult to take them down, unless...

Oyan started screaming orders at his men, which took five shields that were carrying. Using a special weapon that fired sunlight as a ray, they reflected it on the five shields, concentrating it in a single point and shooting it towards the old oak tree. The gunslinger smiled with joy when he heard a yell in pain, and a figure trying to hide in the leaves. It was useless. The ray was too concentrated and powerful, as much as the sun...

"Shit!", cursed Oyan when several and deadly shots killed three of the five men holding the shields. "That fucking brat! Come one! Help me with the shields!", he screamed. Some soldiers took them and hid behind trees, where Aaron couldn't spot them.

The shields were put in a different way to let the sunlight be reflected in them and hit the same target again. Nero hid behind the human form of Toasty, big enough to cover his small, cat body form. The dark Terrennial was took in the other Terrennial's arms, protecting him while he helped Aaron in getting down of the tree, to hide in a hole that was used by bees. The insects were asleep and the human could hide with Toasty without disturbing them. They heard a slash cut the air and they knew Alexander was out there but when the sound was suffocated by a high scream, they knew that the mighty samurai was took down by the north gunslingers. Aaron wanted to go out and help, but Toasty didn't let him. It was a trap and the last thing Alexander would want was the human fell for it. Angry, the boy sat besides him and waited.

Alexander moaned in pain. His clothes were burnt thanks to an explosive that they throw against him. Several soldiers hold him down on the ground while tied him up with ropes. The Terrennial could only watch how they lifted and carried him back. He didn't know where they would go, or what they will do to him. But he was not going to talk; he was not going to betray his friends. Oyan might do whatever with his body, but his soul and mind will stay in place.

"Seems you are with the brat.", he heard Oyan say. "I wonder what are you gonna tell us...", he smiled and looked at the closest gunslinger. "Bring him to the Guild."

"What about Ernest, sir?"

"He will not know about this. The basements are empty and they are not using them anymore.", answered Oyan, starting to walk away.

They reached the Guild in a few minutes. They carefully sneaked inside and to the basements. Oyan choose the farthest one and in there, he tossed Alexander. The Terrennial moaned in pain again, trying to sit on the cold floor. Oyan grabbed his hair and pulled him up.

"So, I guess you will have to answer some questions..."

"It-It will depend on what kind of questions...", managed to say. He was roughly tossed on the floor again. Oyan put his foot on Alexander's head, pressing on it.

But Alexander only whined.

"Tough one...", he kicked his face and broke his nose. "This is going to be fun. I haven't had this type of prisoner since a long time. Now, let's start over...", he put his feet again on the man's head. "I will do the questions and you will answer like a good boy, alright?", only silence answered Oyan. "Alright?!", said again, hitting the wind Terrennial a second time. "Heavens...", a loud sigh escaped his mouth. "Undress him.", he ordered.

Oyan was surprised that the man didn't struggle when his soldiers took off the clothes, leaving him naked on the cold floor, with a bleeding nose. His body was muscled, like a warrior, and there were several scars across his white skin, probably scars of past battles. But what amused Oyan was the make up he was wearing. Why would such masculine man put on him stuff that only women do? He had to admit that the eye make up made him look more serious and even fierce, but still.

"Why do you put make up on your face?", asked the gunslinger. He whispered something to one of his men and said one disappeared from the basement.

"I believe in beauty.", was the only thing Alexander said.

"Beauty? There are many beauties out there. Are you using it because you find yourself attractive?"

"Probably."

Oyan sighed again.

"Who are you?"

"I."

He hoped that the soldier returned soon. The man was giving him a headache already.

"What are you to Trinity's son?"

"A friend."

"Good, that's good.", Oyan walked closed to him. "Were you right behind us because you suspected from us the first day we came here?"

"No."

"Then?"

"After I found out you had a spy and wanted to kill some of Aaron's friends, which came to be my friends too."

Oyan feasted his fists behind his back. If the man knew about the spy, there were high chances that Ernest and the others knew about it too. That screwed up a lot of things.

"Does Ernest know about it too?"

"I don't know.", Oyan was surprised of how calm the man was. He never saw anyone behave like that.

"What are you?", he was about to ask the same question he did, but knew that it wasn't going to work.

"A creature like you."

Oyan kicked Alexander again. The Terrennial fall on the floor and was hit on the stomach several times before the man decided to stop. Oyan needed more than those useless answers. He needed to know if he was with the brat or Lucian, or Ernest. He had to move silently, without suspecting. Right after he heard the rumor of the almighty dark swordsman finally transforming into a vampire, he knew that the east city was becoming a paradise for vampires. The local Guild lacked in trained members after the last war they attended and seemed that no one wanted to become a hunter to eradicate the undead living there. He had seen phenomenon like that in small towns; humans and vampires living together. Oyan growled. Vampires will be always monsters that only like to play mind games before eating up their prey. There was no friendship between them. It was all an illusion. And he knew it too damn well.

He was the only one that could see the evil of the vampires, such as the Duke and the Immortals. He was the only one that told everyone that they needed to be killed before they enslaved them to who knows what purposes. Everyone in the city agreed and decided to create a local Guild, to train their own soldiers and create their own weapons. After two years being trained, Oyan and the leader decided to go into hunting. That night the gunslingers killed around three hundred and fifty five vampires in total. The remaining ones escaped from the city to a better place and soon, it was free from undead for ten years.

Ratatosk knew about the city and tried to destroy it, but failed miserably when he noticed the weapons the gunslingers used. He retreated, but used his powers of the Beast of Destruction to enclose the city in a non ending wave of undead. Even now, when he is dead, the magic upon the north is still working and Oyan doesn't know how to get rid of it. Not even the alchemist living there had a clue and they all said that Sheridan must now, but he was a captive in the Vambery Tower, working under vampire's orders.

Now, he was in the east city. He was going to see Sheridan, but he had urgent things to attend. He looked at the beaten up Alexander and suddenly, he got angry at him.

"Why the fuck you help that fucking vampire?!", he kicked the Terrennial on his stomach again. "Why do you protect him?! Why?! They deserve to die, they are monsters!! And monsters don't deserve to live!"

"I don't care!", yelled Alexander. "I don't care if they are monsters, if they are vampires, damphires, humans!", he bit down on Oyan's leg, hard and deep, and tossed him to the ground. With his inhuman strength, he cut the ropes and hit the gunslinger on the face. "They are my friends, and as such, I will protect them from assholes and ignorant people like you! People that doesn't deserve to live because they can't accept that someone is different from them!", Alexander was taken away from Oyan's side by five or seven soldiers that hold him down on the cold floor. "You will not succeed! Lucian is going to kill you if you ever lay a finger on Aaron!"

"How he will? Will he risk the life of his mate?"

The confident look that Alexander gave didn't like Oyan at all. He left the basement and told his soldiers to give the Terrennial a good beat after hitting him.

He returned to the common room and there he found the spy, sitting quietly on the chair, covered up except for his eyes. The spy fixed his glasses again and smiled under the mask when he heard Alexander scream in pain.

"You are doing a wonderful job, and I guess you are enjoying it.", he said.

Oyan sat besides him.

"He is very strange. His answers, his attitude. He is too calm about being kidnapped and tortured... Why is he like that?"

"Perhaps it's part of his way to see life. It's a samurai, right?", Oyan nodded. "It's possible that he thinks that suffering is part of life, too, wherever is from a beating like this to become stronger or to protect certain information about close persons to him."

"Do you know who is he?"

"No, I have never seen him before. I just know the human form of three of the seven Terrennials; Toasty, Nero and Ezra."

"Would you be able to see through him?"

"It's going to be very hard and near impossible, but I can try."

For the prisoner, it was going to be a very long and endless night.

The spy grabbed a medical box with several bottles and syringes. When he went down besides Oyan and Alexander noticed it, he knew that they were going to use drugs to get the information, and the Terrennial didn't know at what point he could fight the drugs. He hoped that he could endure them as long as he could or as long as Ernest and the others came to him. Alexander was dragged from the corner of the basement by his hair and tossed at the spy's feet. He was holding a syringe filled with a transparent liquid and his smile made the Terrennial shiver in fear.

After the spy injected the liquid, they waited three hours, but the drug wasn't doing anything to the Terrennial. It only made him sleepy, while the drug used had to put him in an alert state, in where he wouldn't know who his enemies was. Said drug was commonly used to retrieve information about certain spots that could be used as hideouts. He tried several others, all of them inside the same syringe. The effect was the same. Alexander only was sleepy. The spy started to suspect that the man wasn't really a human, and if he was a human it was the first time he saw someone that was immune to those type of drugs. Could it be that this samurai has been captured before and injected the same drugs in his body a lot of time that now said drugs were useless on him now? It was possible. The spy didn't know what to do. He looked at Oyan and he shrugged. He yelled to his men to leave the basement and they all took their weapons and left, leaving their leader with the spy alone.

"I can't do anything else.", said the boy to Oyan. "It's the fist time I saw someone like him."

"Leave him, then.", answered the leader. "We will come up with something, eventually."

"What we are going to do now? The kid knows that we were the ones that attacked him and kidnapped his friend."

"Even like that, we still have an advantage; this mysterious man.", he grinned. "Didn't he say they were his friends? Knowing the kid or Ernest, they will not risk his life, and we can move freely."

"But Lucian doesn't think the same as them, nor do the former Duke or his partner.", said the spy, fixing his glasses again. "What are you going to do about them? Remember that Lucian is just a step away from becoming a true vampire, and we don't know yet what are his abilities."

"I don't really care about that. A vampire is still a vampire and all of them have the same weakness; sunlight. The Casket Armor can resist the shoots, but it also has a limit.", they walked up the stairs and entered the main room dedicated to the north gunslingers. Both of them sat on the table to keep talking. "Lucian or the Duke will not have a chance if we disable their defense; even if that means that half of my men have to die."

The spy didn't say anything else. He wasn't thinking in a way to kill them or how to make the prisoner talk. He was thinking about Lucian... Back when Ratatosk was still the ruler of all there was this child, a child that was fused with the Beast of Destruction that, thanks to him, Ratatosk could control the beast. The spy remembered him since once he was in the same side as the Puppeteer, and remembered also his appearance. It was so similar to Lucian's... How could it be possible? Besides, his scent was somehow familiar, too. And after listening to what Toasty said, he was thinking that it was very possible that the same child that once was fused with Vanargandr was still alive after Ratatosk died at Dumas' hands. The spell broke, the Beast of Destruction was sealed inside a sword and the child was free again from its claws. But Lucian lived in the south since little and then moved, and then joined the Guild. The timeline wasn't correct.

Unless the information was wrong...

It must be, at last the part that he lived in the south but the family... The family could have adopted him! And again, how could it be that he was that someone when Ratatosk was still controlling Vanargandr? Could it be that the same child break free from his puppet spell and escaped from him, hid and started a new life with a different name and appearance? But there was something that wasn't right about the situation, and it was Nero's powers within Lucian. There was no way in hell that he could have survived as a simple dhampir for a few days before finding the black eyepatch that controlled his powers. The curse would have speeded into his body in hours, and he would have transformed into a vampire in less than a day. How he was possible to stand the curse without something to control it? Lucian had to be a dhampir from the beginning or at last have vampire's blood in his body before Nero put his power in him, no doubt about that.

How long had passed since the day that Ratatosk could revive and control Vanargandr? Thirty years? Perhaps more, but the spy remembered his allies; the bird, the count, the puppeteer, the child... He was the only one that managed to survive after the child's brother came and fought all of them but couldn't against Ratatosk's powers and was forced to retreat and then, was exiled against his will by this same person. Raratosk ruled alone for a few years before he hired powerful vampires to work by his side. Dumas was one of them. When the Lord of Destruction died, they accepted being under the new Duke's orders. They were only four at the beginning; Rymer came a short time after.

He remembered the child, but not his name neither the child's brother's name. So long after that... The last war, the last fight made several damaged in his head and most of his memories were lost because of it. The silhouettes were there even the faces, but their names were lost in the darkness. Even his own name couldn't remembered and often called himself with different names, fake names, that he gave to the people that wanted his spy abilities, such as Oyan. For Oyan, he was a mere spy, so "Spy" was this time, although Oyan didn't call him "Spy", but rather "kid" or "child", and sometimes "Saturday", because they meet every Saturday to inform each other about the enemy.

The spy's eyes opened wide open and Oyan noticed it.

"What's up?"

It was that! The name!

"Hey, kid!", raised his voice when the spy didn't reply to his question. "What have you remembered?"

"Saturday... We used to call him Saturday."

"What are you talking about?", Oyan was getting pissed that the spy wasn't paying attention to him at all.

"Saturday is moon's day... Oh Heavens, he is still alive! That's why he was so familiar to me the first time I saw him!", without saying anything to Oyan, he stood up and left the Guild.

He run through the forest, to the city and back to the forest. He stopped on a hill, watching the dark figure of the ruined Dark Castle. His silhouette was so perfect, almost like Spiral Tower, many, many years ago... The spy removed his mask and his hood, and his pale, bluish skin shined with the moon's light. His big, round glasses did the same and his short, brown hair played with the soft breeze. He just remembered his name, and remembered the child's name. Ratatosk wanted him because of his blood, which could revive Vanargandr's sealed soul in the Moon Paradise, Mahoroba. And since the child had dark powers in him the puppeteer could easily manipulate him. The child's brother didn't stand a chance, and he was one of those vampires besides Ratatosk that fought him and managed to survive.

He was Nidhoggr, the one that controlled the Machine King with his same name, the Earth Dragon. He was the one that started to call the child "Saturday" due to his own name, since in an ancient language it means Saturday, the moon's day. And the child was no one but a descendant of the extinct Lunar Tribe.

Sabata was his name, and the child that suffered in the past thanks to Ratatosk's ideas was still alive.


	13. Chapter 13

**(Fixed some mistakes, Re-Upload.) **

**Hello dear readers! Here you have the next chapter from my story! Hope you enjoy it as you did with the others! :)**

**Kemeno: It's alright, as long as you are liking the story. :3 Thank you!**

**-dragonclaw-coco: Hahaha, indeed! Down with Oyan, up Terrennials! XD Thanks!**

**slack-jawed cheese hugger: I'm glad that I was able to make you create a story. XD And I completely like the idea of having a fan art of this story. 3 I will wait with excitement. Thanks!**

**Sorry for any mistakes you might find here. xx**

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13

Aaron and the Terrennials returned to the mansion. They only saw Dumas and Perrault. The formed Duke smiled when the boy entered the main room and asked if he was now more decided, and smiled even more when the boy say that yes, he was. But neither Lucian nor Nish were in the mansion right now, both of them left for a walk leaving Dumas with his Terrennial to read and rest of them for a bit. Aaron got interested in that and sat besides him, asking him why they left. Dumas answered saying that they were getting impatient about the feeding, especially Lucian since he really wanted to drink Aaron's blood and wasn't going to drink any other but that. So Nish had the fantastic idea to made a bet with him; how long he could stand the smell and sight of blood for the period of time that Nish says, and being Lucian, he accepted it. Dumas knew that the dhampir was going to kneel at the first blood that dropped from the first victim his new partner found and he knew that Lucian wasn't going to stand looking and smelling it less than a minute. It would only frustrate him more and his vampire half will go berserk in mere seconds.

"How long they have left?", asked Aaron, petting Nero's back, who was resting on his lap. Perraul was jealousy looking at the boy. She wanted to groom his back.

"About an hour or so.", Dumas narrowed his eyes. "Are you thinking in going to look after them?"

"Why do you have this magnetism to problems?", said Toasty, who was sitting on the Duke's right shoulder. "You will only screw up things."

"Oh? Look who's talking.", answered Nero, waving his tail angrily, remembering what the light Terrennial did to him while he was in the cage. Toasty understood and shut his mouth. "But he got a point in that. Besides, what are you going to do after you find him?"

"...tell him that he can drink my blood?", said Aaron, blushing deeply, trying to hid his face.

The former Duke giggled.

"You will get more nervous and more red than you are now when Lucian sinks his fangs on your tender and delicious skin of your neck.", the boy turned more red and looked the chair next to him, trying to avoid Dumas' naughty look. "It's not even going to hurt. You will enjoy it so much..."

Aaron nodded, imagining Lucian's hot breath and lips on his equal hot skin of his neck. The imagined feelings made him shiver, something that Dumas noticed. He hugged the boy with one of his arms and whispered to not be afraid, just loose up and enjoy it as a special foreplay. Around three in the morning, cold winds started to blow. Aaron didn't have any warm clothes besides a single sweater; very thin that really didn't warm at all, and the jacket. Dumas went to his room, the one that he and Nish shared, and gave him some of his clothes and a long, black coat to wear. It was thick and very warm. The interior fabric was all crimson like the big neck and the buttons. The vampire also gave him a pair of gloves and boots, seeing that the ones he always wore were not helping in keeping his feet at their normal temperature. Dumas fixed the collar a bit and covered Aaron's neck with it.

"There you go. You shouldn't have any problems with this on."

"You have nice taste in clothes.", said the young boy, petting the soft fabric of the coat. Nero rubbed himself against Aaron's legs. He liked the new stile in Trinity's son. "You like it too, Nero?"

"Very much. You now look like a real vampire mate."

The boy blushed. Toasty petted his head softly and smiled to him.

"You should get moving.", suggested. "It could snow or hail anytime, and you will not enjoy your walk if the weather betrays you.", the boy hugged him. "Oh, you are so cute."

Aaron giggled.

"And you are so stubborn."

"...now you aren't so cute anymore!"

Dumas laughed with Nero and the boy, and rushed him to leave soon.

Nero jumped on Aaron's shoulder and both of them left, before the boy took his Knight and put it in the belt around his waist. When they finally left, a cold wind played with the boy's hair. It was really cold, but the coat covered him from it. The monsters guarding the forecourt accompanied him to the entrance of it before returning to their spots. The hidden path in the woods was lightly illuminated with the moon's soft, silver light. Nero curled behind the boy's neck, putting his tail around his neck and folded his wings against his furred body. He put his legs and paws on Aaron's shoulder and rested his head on them, comfortable seeing everything the boy saw. The trip was short and soon, they were in Acuna.

The city was asleep. The winds had troubles with the amount of buildings and didn't have the same force back in the woods or in the mansion's forecourt. The stone streets were empty, not a single soul was walking there, not even the north gunslingers. Aaron walked slowly, looking at the closed shops' show windows. He found nothing of interest but it was a good way to kill time until he found a clue where the hell could be Lucian and Nish. Nero was helping too, trying to find even the lightest sound with his ears or at last the vampire's dark energy, but he was concerned that he couldn't feel them. Perhaps because he was still weak after the rough weeks he had back in the Guild, but still, at last a tiny bit of them! After a while he didn't think in that anymore and fall asleep on the boy's shoulder.

Aaron thought that Acuna was unnaturally quiet. He had patrolled it several times at night, the same hour, and it wasn't this quiet. He knew immediately that something was up. Could it be that the north gunslinger have already frightened the people in it, so much that they don't dare to go for a little walk in the night? He hoped not, because if it was the case, then the vampires living in Acuna would be in serious problems with the gunslingers. The boy titled his head to the left. What about himself? What about his legacy as Trinity's son, as the gunslinger he dreamed for so long to become? Would his father really accept his relationship with Lucian, even if said one was a vampire? He doubt it, but since it was Lucian, it could work out, but only because it was him. He knew that if it wasn't him, then his father would have tried the same thing that Toasty or Ernest did. And now, he was looking for his mate to share his blood with him and let him transform in the vampire that he rejected to become for eleven years. Aaron thought of that. What thing made Lucian change his decision about that? Sheridan's and Dumas' words? Toasty's ones? His words, his attitude? What? Had Lucian accepted them and see no other way to keep going? Even if he fight the curse back, it would be useless since he would only harm himself in the process. Slowly rejecting solid food and normal food, his body would start weakling bit by bit, until his stomach would only accept red, juicy meats and blood. No eating meant sickness, and Lucian wasn't going to go through that having his strong feelings towards the boy and mated him already. He didn't want to make him suffer.

Aaron sighed. It was so complicated. He only hoped that after Lucian becomes a vampire, at last a bit could be easier.

He reached the dark park and sat on one of the empty benches. He put his gloved hands in the coat's pockets and leaning on it, looking at the cloudy sky. It was a different sight from the mansion. There, the sky was clear and the stars were very bright, like the Moon that was now covered with the thick, dark clouds. The boy thought of a city where humans and vampires lived together. Could it be possible? The old stories about towns and cities like that, were true? Was there a city were both races lived in peace, without wars? He hoped so, he would not stand going from here to there, from this to that. He had friends, Lucian had friends here too despite him saying he didn't. It would be hard for both of them to constantly move from a side to another because of their 'taboo' condition.

"My child, what are you doing this late at night, alone in the park?", came a soft voice from behind Aaron.

The boy turned around and smiled when he saw the covered figure of Lucian, hiding in the shadows. He could see, at last, his glowing red eyes in said darkness. Aaron was now used at the sight and didn't shiver when he saw them.

"Looking for you, of course.", replied the boy. The dhampir walked to him and sat next to his mate, circling his body with his strong arms. "Where were you?"

"Oh, having fun with Nish.", he grinned, showing his white teeth and fangs. The mischief smile he gave Aaron said a lot. "He taught me stuff..."

Aaron arched an eyebrow.

"Stuff?", he repeated. "What kind of stuff?", Lucian could hear a tinny note of jealous in his mate's voice.

"Not that kind of stuff, mind you, but rather vampire's stuff. We hunted together, and bet me to stand in front of blood for two hours straight."

"And how it ended?", curiously asked Aaron, snuggling closer to the warm body besides him. Nero kept sleeping, not really feeling the closeness of Lucian.

The dhampir chuckled.

"At first it was hard to not drink it, but I managed to suppress that instinct and I won the bet.", explained then. "Nish ate the prey and then we left, just walking in the streets until I sensed your delicious scent.", Lucian nuzzled Aaron's neck and purred. "Heavens, you smell so good.", he leaned over him and kissed the boy's lips hungrily, forcing his tongue inside the other's mouth.

Aaron shivered in excitement, letting his mate to do whatever he pleased with his mouth and tongue. The naughty hands of the dhampir roamed his body, looking for a possible entrance under those thick and annoying clothes the young boy was wearing due to the low temperatures. The boy chuckled at the useless movements of Lucian on his body. He laid on the bench, with the other on him and smiled warmly to him. Nero awoke and hissed, jumping from the boy to the ground. When he noticed it was only Lucian he calmed down and mumbled some words saying things about them, walking away to leave them alone.

Lucian returned to the boy's mouth, hugging him tightly, playing with Aaron's tongue and his. Quickly, their bodies were heating up and the clothes were helping in that. Lucian couldn't stand them anymore but couldn't strip in the middle of the park, especially because it was freezing. And Aaron would reject the idea of doing it in the open, seeing how shy the boy was with that subject. He separated himself from the boy's warm lips and started to kiss his jawline, traveling up to his ear and playing with it before going down again. Lucian nibbled and bit softly on the heated skin, getting more excited. The tip of the fangs teased said skin, wanting to drink the blood that laid under it. The dhampir purred and Aaron could notice that his mate was slowly getting horny. He sighed, shivering at the touches on his neck. He smiled and whispered a single order to Lucian, whose eyes widened instantly. He moved under the spell of that order and, with extremely gentleness, he bit down on the boy's neck, feeling the heat from it and the warmness of the blood that started sucking from him. Lucian moaned deeply, digging his claws in the back of his mate, finding the ecstasy he always wanted since he mated with Aaron, and the boy was under the same feeling. His blushed face seemed to explode anytime as he tightly gripped the back of the bench, shivering in pleasure, while the other gripped Lucian's hair, pulling them when a wave of pleasure hit his body without notice.

The dhampir fed from his mate for five minutes before releasing him, even if he didn't want to. The sweet blood that poured from the now open wound called his mouth back, to keep drinking, but he rejected it. He licked his lips and fangs, swallowing the leftovers on his mouth. Looking down, he saw the thin trails of blood from the wound and bent down, licking the skin several times before stopping. Slowly, the round holes closed. Lucian purred and kissed Aaron's right cheek. He laughed when he heard his elaborated breathing.

"Was too much for you?", asked in a whisper. The boy smiled even if the dhampir couldn't see it.

"The happiness was too much, but I'm so glad I did it."

Lucian sighed contently.

They stayed on the bench, holding each other. Aaron moved a bit when he saw the first lights on the sky, lights that announced the beginning of a new day. The Sun was slowly making his way up on the sky, trying to let his rays play between the dark clouds and be able to illuminate, at last a bit, the surface of the planet. Lucian didn't want to move at all, neither Aaron, but they both knew it was really late and Dumas and Nish would be probably worried about them, not to mention that Toasty would driving them insane with his questions about the young boy. But they didn't want to go to the mansion. Since they were in Acuna they decided to walk on the streets, with Nero resting on Aaron's shoulders, and returned to the Inn they rented a few months ago and abandoned a few weeks later.

The owner was very happy to have them again in the Inn. He asked why they were out for so long and Lucian put up an excuse, seeing how Aaron couldn't really say anything. His blushed face said a lot more than he wanted to. They took the key and went upstairs.

Not so long after they left, the owner heard some soft knocks on his door. He opened it and found a young man, around his twenties, with dirty blonde hair and pale skin. He was wearing some dirty clothes and a very old, fashioned cowboy hat that he respectfully took off when the owner opened the door. Hanging on his shoulders there was a bag with his belongings.

"I'm sorry to disturb you at these early hours but, would you have room for a tired writer like me?", said in a very polite voice. The owner of the Inn could see some unnaturally long fangs peeping from his thin lips. "I have traveled for a long time and couldn't find any open Inn."

"Of course. This way, please...", he answered, moving so the foreigner could enter without problems. "Is only for a night?"

"I wouldn't know. I plan on staying in the city for a while, but I don't know how much time.", he said, still with the hat on his hand. The owner took a new look at him, and noticed a strange, white mark on his right cheek as well as his lightly pointed ears. Was the foreigner a half vampire? His eyes weren't red, but a very bright grey. "How much it will cost each night?"

"One hundred of solls. You can include breakfast and dinner, but that will raise the cost at two hundred.", answered the owner, taking a big book from under the counter.

The foreigner made a face.

"Are there good restaurants around here?", the owner nodded, writing some stuff down in the book. "Is there also a library?"

"Yes, there is one a few blocks away. It's one of the biggest here."

The young man was very happy to hear that. He put the hat on his head, put one hundred of solls on the table and grabbed the keys, but the owner stopped him, saying he needed to sig the book. The foreigner smiled and did it, turning around and going upstairs. The owner looked at his name and arched his eyebrows. What kind of name was 'Dyango'?

Aaron was the first who woke up. It was late in the afternoon, around five or so, and the Sun was slowly setting. Lucian was sleeping soundless besides him, with his arms tightly around his slim body. The boy managed to slip from them and sat up from the bed. Nero was already up and told him that Dumas, especially, was furious that neither of them decided to, at last, send to him a message telling that they were going to spend the night somewhere else, but the black cat already took care of it. The former Duke was worried that the north gunslinger had caught them, seeing how Alexander was. That brought new worries for the boy. Now that Lucian was officially a vampire and Alexander was under Oyan's hands, what they were going to do? They needed to help him but, how? Oyan had more men back into his native land and he only had to make a single call or send his spy to tell them he needed reinforcements and soon, the East cities were going to see another war between gunslingers and vampires.

He decided to wait until Lucian decided to wake up. Meanwhile, he stayed on the couch, with Nero on his lap, petting his head and back, thinking. There was indeed a new war upcoming but he didn't know who were on their side, he didn't know if the vampires in Acuna, Culiacan, New Culiacan and the others cities were willing to help kicking the north gunslingers out of them. What would happen if the humans that wanted the vampires out of the cities allied with Oyan? Vampires had their supernatural powers such as darkness and some elemental powers, but they couldn't fight the gunslingers back without using a Casket Armor underneath their clothes. The solar guns were going to kill them instantly. Aaron noticed that he needed to talk with Ernest about it, and think with him, Bea, Ernest, Dumas and Lucian a way to kick Oyan away from their native city. Perhaps the former Duke, Lucian and Nish could convince some of their own race to fight back, and Ernest and the others convince some humans to fight along them, but humans that didn't despite vampires and had a good relationship with them. Said vampires needed to be think the same as these humans otherwise, it wouldn't work out.

The other thing was the number of allies and enemies; Oyan probably had more than one thousand of men at his orders, plus those who decided to join him in the East cities. They had only the tinny bit of gunslingers and a tiny bit of who were brave enough to fight them back. They didn't have a chance, unless they prepared them a trap on the same streets. But what? Aaron couldn't think of a good way to lure them out from the battle field to the streets the East habitants knew very well.

He was sure that, in the middle of all that musing, fall asleep because when he opened his eyes, Lucian wasn't lying on the bed anymore. Nero was resting besides him, apparently not knowing that the newborn vampire wasn't in the room. Aaron stood up and looked around. He wasn't there. The boy bit his bottom lip. It seemed like the first day when Lucian run away without saying anything. How could he still be so careless with him, now that they mated and he let drink his blood? He was about to start cursing when he saw a small note on the light table, written in Lucian's handwriting.

"_I'm sorry to leave you again, like the first time I decided to run away, fearing that I could be a possible harm for you.__ This is no different. I don't want you near me when I complete my transformation because I really don't want to harm you, this time for real. I will return (I promise I will return this time!), once I have finished my transformation. And don't worry, please, Dumas and Nish will be there with me to take care of me. Lucian."_

All the anger that was building inside disappeared when he finished reading the note. A small smile appeared on his soft face. He put the note on the same place he found it and flopped down on the bed. He was happy that, at last, Lucian cared to leave a note but at the same time, was angry because he didn't want to be with him while he transformed. The boy had to respect that decision because it was something that could affect their future together. Either way, he was really excited about the idea that when Lucian returned, will do it in the full form of a real vampire. He let his imagination flow and thought twenty different ways on how Lucian would look after the dark matter took completely control of his human body. He hoped, deep inside, that his appearance doesn't change a lot.

Nero awoke and suggested him to get moving to the mansion, since it was safer there than in the Inn, with all the north gunslingers moving out there. Aaron agreed, and started to put on all the clothes Lucian had took off before they went to bed. Grabbing the note and the keys, both of them left the room, locking it with the key. Downstairs, the bar was empty and only the owner and his helper were there. Aaron gave him the keys and excused again, saying that they were going to be absent for a long time.

They left the Inn, and a cold wind welcomed them on the streets. Even with the not so nice weather, the people enjoyed the weekend. It was a nice Sunday evening and the shops were still open. Aaron and Nero looked around, curious, walking closer to the show windows when something caught their interest. He saw some gunslingers doing their patrol that evening and tried to take other directions in other to not jump into them but wasn't lucky when he took a turn to the right. Could his bad luck have something to do with Nero that was a black cat that accompanied him? The north gunslingers got pissed at him and insulted him and Aaron, being the hot headed boy he was, did nothing else but answer those insults. The result; he running for his life with the gunslingers seeking after him, with their guns charged and ready to shoot.

The boy hid in a building, the men following close behind. He went downstairs, upstairs, turned to the left, to the right. Why were still behind him?! Have they recognized him? Could it be that Oyan told his men to capture him if they ever saw him? No wonder they were so insistent. But if that was the case, he needed to run faster than he already was. Nero was firmly gripped at his shoulders with his paws, trying to keep his balance each time the boy decided to turn. His fur spiked up when he and the boy saw that there was no exit in the last turn they did. Aaron started to curse outloud when the gunslingers finally caught him

"Fucking brat.", said one of the, pretty pissed off. "Our leader told us you were hard, but didn't think you could run that fast."

Aaron groaned. Yes, Oyan definitely wanted him. And he wasn't with Toasty to Trance and kick their asses, and didn't know if he could fuse with Nero. He took out his Knight and both men started laughing when they pointed their weapons at Aaron. The boy sighed, gripping his teeth. He was so fucked up. The boy lifted his arms up, but didn't drop the gun, not yet.

The other one laughed as he approached the boy with a pair of handcuff.

"This way that vampire will not be able to attack us as long as you are with us.", he laughed again when he obliged the boy. The Knight fall to the floor when he put the handcuff on the boy, but was lifted by a third man that wasn't either gunslinger or someone the boy knew. "Who the fuck are you?", asked the man, after putting the handcuffs on Aaron and shoving him to his partner.

The fourth in the room picked up the weapon and looked a it, ignoring the two gunslingers. He adjusted his black, dirty hat on his head and pointed it to the men, who laughed.

"Wanna die, idiot?", but not so long after he said that a hole was now seen in the middle of his forehead. Blood started to pour like a river from the wound and the now dead body fell on the floor.

"Mother fucker!", screamed the second one, but suffered the same ending as his partner.

The man smiled and Aaron could see his fangs. Nero hissed at the stranger, but he knew he couldn't do anything in his state, still weak and not completely healed up.

"It's ok.", said the other approaching the boy with his Knight. He took the keys of the handcuffs from the dead gunslingers. "I hate these guys too.", the man took the handcuff off and throw them to the floor. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, thank you.", answered when the man returned to him his weapon.

"You shouldn't walk in this infested city of gunslingers without your vampire mate, seeing how much interest they have in you.", the man smiled when he saw the expression of Aaron. "I can smell the scent of a vampire all over you."

"Are you a dhampir?", asked the boy.

"Something like that. Now, if you excuse me, I'm leaving. Just take in mind what I told you.", the man pat Aaron's head and turned around. "See ya, kid."

"What a weird man.", whispered Nero when he and Aaron decided to leave the building too.

Night fall, but Lucian didn't return to the mansion or the Inn. Aaron was getting worried. He wanted to talk with Ernest but couldn't risk going to the Guild, since he needed to go through Acuna. After what happened that evening he didn't want to go outside again. Surprisingly, Toasty was the one that told them what was happening with the dark swordsman. Dumas and Nish took him to a field not so far from the mansion where he could transform without interruptions.

"And they don't wish you to go there, for your own safety.", finished the Light Terrennial.

Aaron pouted.

In the end, he had to wait up for the vampires to return to the mansion, but he couldn't just wait them doing nothing. He took both Terrennials with him and went outside, in the forecourt, to walk a bit. He also took the book, under his arm, as he walked and talked none senses with the Terrennials. They found a nice place to stay, near the beginning of the forest, and sat on an old bench. Some shadows appeared as the boy sat and from them, Ghouls popped out, going to different ways in order to protect their master from any harm that could come from anywhere. Toasty eyed them, not liking to have Ghouls so close from the boy, but Aaron told him it was natural since he was now the mate of a powerful vampire. Nero seconded it and Toasty didn't ask or say anything else.

He opened the book and started to read from where he left the last time he read it. Aaron started to read the part of vampire's transformations, since Lucian was going through it right now, interested in the different types of physical features the new vampire will have, as well with a list of the possible changes in their attitude. That's something Aaron noticed several days before they mated. The dhampir behaved weird to his usual persona and it amused Aaron, liking some of those new moods.

The cold atmosphere made the boy sleepy. Some hounds approached him and curled besides their master, keeping him warm. Aaron's eyes started to close slowly. The book fell on his lap as well as his eyes on his cheeks. Why he was so tired so suddenly? A soft breeze blew between his hairs, the lulling sound of the tree's leaves in the silent night... Could it be because Lucian fed from him? Blood was human's life energy and if they lost a nice amount of it, they would not be able to do normal things. Was Aaron feeling weak because of it? But he didn't care as long as he could be useful for Lucian, since he was the one that needed to eat specific food.

He didn't know how much time he slept but when he woke up, it wasn't that quietly anymore. The hounds were nervous and the Ghouls that were patrolling returned to the boy's side. Aaron blinked, confused and still sleepy, and saw Nero with his fur spiked up and Toasty with his human form, feasting his fists, looking really angry. His body felt heavy, he couldn't move it.

"Toasty...", called the boy weakly, followed by a low groan.

The Terrennial spun around and gasped in surprise.

"You are awake! Don't move.", said Toasty helping the boy to stand up. "You will not believe it, but you were shot with a paralyzing dart."

"Oyan's... here?", whispered and groaned again when Toasty nodded. Just now, the boy could hear the sounds of the solar weapons, metal hitting metal, loud groans... "Where's Lucian?"

"Fighting.", answered the Terrennial, picking the boy up on his arms. "We have to get the fuck out of here."

"No...!", tried to scream the boy. If Lucian was there, he wanted to see him... He could feel his anger in the air, he could hear his voice, feel his scent... "Lucian!", called out louder, grabbing the attention of the north gunslingers.

Oyan smirked and aimed at Toasty. Before Nish could stop him, the leader shot and the Terrennial barely had time to dodge. The spirit tripped over his feet when he dodged and fall on the floor, but still keeping Aaron safe in his arms. Nero rushed to their sides and managed to transform into his human form to block a shoot that was going straight to Aaron's body. Lucky for him, his sensitive skin was covered by the thin black vest. The black cat helped Toasty to his feet and the screams of Dumas' saying to run away were the thing that the Light Terrennial needed to get moving. Aaron refused but in his state couldn't do much more. The three of them managed to leave the forecourt behind, as well as the mansion, and run on the dirty path towards the city. But they didn't go there. Acuna was filled with gunslingers and it would be very dangerous for them, especially for Aaron. When the path divided itself, they took the right side, the one that went to Sheridan's mansion.

Inside, Carmilla, the android that Sheridan made when he was under Stoker's orders and captive in the Vambery, looked nervous. Since she was taken away by the same professor in order to save her, she helped the man doing the housework as a maid. Sheridan was a very quiet man and Carmilla didn't talk that much either, so they went along pretty well.

The man saw that his maid went downstairs and followed her. When Carmilla opened the front door, Toasty and Nero rushed inside, gasping for air. The cat tripped and fall on the floor, while Toasty fall on his knees, still holding Aaron in his arms. Carmilla jumped, surprised, but soon recovered from the shock. She closed the door and took the boy on her arms, seeing how the Light Terrennial couldn't hold him any longer.

"Nero!", she cried. "What happened?", she kneeled besides him, petting his head. When the cat didn't answer, she looked at the boy. "What happened?", repeated.

"I... don't know.", said the boy, still paralyzed.

Sheridan appeared and studied the two, tired Terrennials, who returned to their plant and beast form, still panting and weak.

"Go upstairs with Aaron and give him one of the rooms.", said Sheridan to Carmilla, who stood up. "And take a sample of his blood. I might be able to have or create a cure for his status.", the woman nodded and disappeared behind a wall. The man could hear her steps on the stairs. "I will have some problems with both of you,", mumbled as he took on his arms Nero and Toasty. "But I'm more interested in how the hell the three of you ended like this.", added with a friendly smile.

He took them to his examination room and put them on a metal bed. He went to a shelve and started looking around, doing an exclamation sound when he finally found, after a few minutes, what he was looking for. He returned to the Terrennials, now calmer and better, with two, small bottles containing certain, transparent liquid. Sheridan opened them both and made them drink it. While he waited for the potion to affect them, Carmilla appeared in the lab with a little bottle with blood, which handed it to Sheridan. He thanked her and asked to look at both Terrennials.

Sheridan, with the bottle, went to a big machine that looked like the ones in the hospitals that were for blood tests. The professor put a nice amount of the blood in another bottle that was put inside the machine. Said one was closed and the man sat in front of an equal big computer. Typing something on the keyboard, the machine started to run.

"How do you feel now?", asked to the Terrennials.

Nero stretched up, purring.

"Never felt so good in all my life.", answered. Carmilla smiled softly, petting his back, and Sheridan laughed out loud.

"That's good, that's good.", several windows on the screen popped out, but the professor didn't look at them. "How did Aaron and both of you ended like that?"

Toasty was the one that explained the whole thing to Sheridan. Dumas, Nish and Lucian went out to find a quiet place where the dhampir could transform without interruptions, while Aaron stayed in the Inn but soon moved back to the mansion, in order to wait up for them. After a while, he went out and sat near the forest to read the book that he took from Acuna's library, but didn't noticed the paralyzing dart that was stuck on his bare neck. But the Light Terrennial and Nero noticed it, and then, Ghouls and Hounds got nervous in the surroundings, feeling the presence of an intruder. Just when Aaron finally succumbed to the dart's effects, Oyan and his men decided to attack. They were fighting against them and, luckily, the vampires showed up. The Terrennials run away with Aaron, leaving the vampires have a nice feast with the gunslinger. If not all, at last three quarters of them.

After the story, Sheridan showed some mercy for the gunslingers that were going to die at the vampire's hands, but didn't criticize their actions seeing that they did it only because Aaron was in extremely danger. He shivered at the thought of a full transformed Lucian. The man was very frightening when he was still a dhampir, and couldn't imagine how more frightening he could get in his vampire form. The professor asked Carmilla to make a light meal for the young boy as he still tried to decipher what kind of potion Oyan or his men used on Aaron.

An hour later, the machine stopped. The computer too and no more windows popped on the screen. Sheridan looked one by one, nodding after reading all the information and closing it seconds later. When he finished with all of them, he stood up and walked to the Terrennials and offered them his arms. Nero jumped on the professor's shoulder and Toasty slowly floated to the other one, sitting on it softly.

"Oyan used a sleep-inducing liquid to stun Aaron.", explained the man while going upstairs to check on the boy.

"Was because of it he is weak?", asked Toasty.

Sheridan shook his head.

"He lost a lot of blood in the last twenty-four hours.", answered Sheridan. "For a young boy like him to lose almost half of your blood in so less time it's dangerous.", they saw Carmilla just open the door, with a tray with a plate and a glass, to enter the room. "Do you know how he could lose so much blood like that?"

Both Terrennials shook their heads.

Aaron was awake but still felt dizzy. Sheridan saluted him and smiled to Carmilla, who put the tray on the boy's lap. He thanked her for it and asked at the professor what happened with his body. Sheridan explained to him the sleep-inducing liquid but that didn't answered how he lost so much blood and, when the professor asked about it, Aaron suddenly felt silent.

The professor, now sitting on a chair next to him with both Terrennials on his shoulders, arched his eyebrows.

"Aaron?", asked softly.

"I gave it to Lucian.", finally said the boy, in a whisper.

Sheridan leaned on the chair. It was odd. Dhampir's didn't need to drink a lot of blood in order to transform themselves in full vampires. With a few millimeters of the red liquid the transformation would be a success.

"When did you do this?", asked Sheridan. The boy seemed not to really like talking about that with him, and the man couldn't blame him. He disliked vampires the most after what they did to his family and how he suffered under Stoker's orders. But since it was Aaron and Lucian who were talking about, and since they were his friends, he couldn't deny his help to them, but the kid was being lightly stubborn. "Yesterday night?", Aaron nodded. "How long did Lucian feed from you?"

"Five minutes, I think."

"It's not a lot of time for him or any other vampire to drink half the blood of a young boy like you.", said Sheridan, still clueless about Aaron's condition. Not even the sample that Carmilla took from him was that much. "Most vampires needs at last fifteen to forty-five minutes to completely drink the blood of an adult human.", he put his hand under his chin. "Where did all that other blood end up?"

"We went to the Inn, we slept and then I woke up. Since Lucian was still sleeping...", said the boy, eating his meal. ", I decided to wait until he woke up, but I guess I fall asleep on the couch because when I opened my eyes again, he wasn't there."

"Perhaps he drank that blood while you were asleep but if that is the cause, then you couldn't move at all after you woke up, and by the Terrennials sayings, you left the Inn and went to the mansion, to wait up for Lucian and the two vampires.", mumbled Sheridan. It was so confusing.

Could it be that another vampire sneaked in the room and drank Aaron's blood while he was sleeping? Could it be Dumas or his new partner? What if Oyan's spy knew their location and drained Aaron's blood? What could do him with said blood? No, it didn't make any sense. It must have been Lucian, but then the boy couldn't move a single muscle after it and would have kept sleeping due to his loss of blood.

"Energy injection.", said Nero, perking his ears, after a few minutes of silence.

"Is that possible?", said Toasty. Sheridan was as clueless as Aaron, who looked at both Terrennials, confused. "I heard something about that, but as far as I know, it's pretty dangerous."

"What's energy injection?", asked the professor.

"As it's says, it's an injection of energy that a powerful being does to another one, that needs it. The energy that is transmitted from one to another it's special, since it doesn't have traces of any known element (ice, fire, wind, earth, dark, light, moon, etc.). We could say that it's part of the vital energy of someone.", explained Nero. "Since Lucian needed to feed more from your blood, seeing that his transformation was very powerful, he drank more of your blood when you were sleep, but replaced that loss with an Energy Injection to help you to move around for a while. That's how you could go from the Inn to the mansion and then to the forecourt without weakling at all."

"Why Toasty said it was dangerous?", said Sheridan.

"Because it happens that the being that wants to give his energy to the weaker one doesn't calculates the amount of energy, and in the end, the weaker can't handle it and dies or ends up in a bad shape after the transmitting.", they all jumped when they heard Carmilla's voice, except for Aaron. "Vampires can do this to weak or sick humans, since the healing process of them it's much better than human one. Some families uses it when their friends have a life treating wound, or a terminal sickness. Not in all cases the Energy Injection works and, in most cases, it's used as last resort."

"How can a vampire do this?", asked Sheridan again. Aaron seemed not interested in the subject, as he kept eating in silence.

"The same way they feed from their preys. As they feed, they can also inject their energy into the prey so the loss of blood, if it's an important one, doesn't weight too much on it."

"And since the energy holds everything of the vampire, including its own temper, it can happen that the human that receives the injection behaves like such vampire.", added Nero.

Toasty laughed and looked at Aaron.

"No wonder why he acts so grumpy since we came here."

The boy, eyeing the light Terrennial, gave him a little smirk.


	14. Chapter 14

**(Fixed some mistakes, Re-Upload.)**

**slack-jawed cheese hugger: Oh, you will see, you will see 3 Keep in mind that some of those facts are created by me. XD But if you are telling me this, is because you haven't played the game? You should, then. Thank you!**

**Kemeno: Yes, he did! Read this chapter to find it ou!! D Thanks!**

**-dragonclaw-coco: XD Is it scaring you?**

**Lady-of-destruction-aria: I'm glad it's liking you that way. Thank you!**

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14

A few hours later Aaron was feeling better from the potion Oyan used on him, but thanks to the blood loose he couldn't stand up yet. He stayed on bed, with Nero and Toasty besides him, while Carmilla attended him, often bringing books to the boy for him to read.

Aaron felt lightly uncomfortable when he was around Carmilla. From what Nero told him after the effects of the Energy Injection wore off, Dumas took Ella to the Vambery and it was there where she was made into the android she was now. Like Lucian, she lost all memories of the person she was in the past and, thanks to Sheridan, she escaped from the vampire's hands to live with him. After the boy heard the story, she looked at Carmilla with different eyes from the beginning. He didn't know how Ella looked alike so he didn't compare it with Carmilla but now, he was trying to picture the appearance of the girl who Lucian once loved. Nero told him to not worry about that because it was all in the past. The boy nodded, but kept thinking about it.

What would have been the things that Lucian saw in Ella eleven years ago? What attitudes were the ones that charmed the gunslinger? How the girl charmed him? Did she love Lucian back, or it was only the man who was feeling love towards her? Questions like this walked around Aaron's mind, while he waited on the bed, curled under the sheets, for any news about the vampires.

The sun was rising on the horizon. It was already six in the morning, and no one knew anything about the vampires. Aaron started to worry about his mate's life. Had Oyan killed Lucian? Had the gunslingers took them as hostage? Did Oyan kill Dumas or Nish, and Lucian wanting to avenge them also got killed? Aaron rolled around the bed several times, feeling in his chest a very heavy sensation. He bit his bottom lip, looking at the uncovered window. Where was Lucian? The Sun was rising and if they stayed more time outside, Nish will not be able to walk since he didn't have a Casket Armor like Lucian or Dumas. Could it be that they were hiding somewhere, waiting for the new night to come and then go to Sheridan's mansion? The thought made Aaron sigh. Yes, it could be. Maybe they ended up to wounded after the fight and they were resting, healing up their injuries. The boy rolled on his stomach, hiding under the sheets. Yes, it must be like that. Lucian was too powerful to be beaten by Oyan and his men. The same goes for Dumas, and probably Nish, even if he didn't know what the vampire's techniches were.

Upon these thoughts, Aaron's eyes slowly shut. A few instants later, he was in deep sleep.

A familiar scent woke him up, but the room was in darkness. He couldn't feel Nero or Toasty on the bed when he stretched his arms out, trying to find them on the mattress. Where were they? He felt dizzy; he could feel his stomach moving violently when he stood on the bed. Where was the dizziness coming from? Besides that, his neck ached a bit. When his body decided to stop for a moment, the boy looked around again. Darkness, all black. Where was he? It didn't see like Sheridan's mansion at all. He removed the sheets of his body and stood up on his feet. The bed disappeared after he left it and, without caring about it, he started to walk.

Even though he was inside nothingness and thinking it should be cold, it was completely the opposite; the ambient was so warm. The darkness made the boy remember Lucian's warmness when they were together, cuddling or snuggling on the bed in a very lazy morning. Aaron kept walking, where, he didn't know, and looked around trying to find something familiar, a silhouette. But there was nothing there. One thing he noticed was that his neck ached more and more the more he walked towards his destiny and, after a while, couldn't bear the pain any longer. He cursed loudly, grabbing his neck, making pressure, trying to find a way to ease the pain.

"_Shhh..."_

Aaron lifted his head at the hissing sound. Who could it be? He heard the same sound again, and something moving between the darkness. The boy stepped backwards, not looking away any moment. His neck ached harder, and Aaron fell on his knees, whimpering and moaning in pain. His body started to sweat and shake. What was causing that horrible pain...?

His eyes opened violently. The first thing he saw was the ceiling and the second thing he felt was his elaborated breathing and his chest rising up and down at each breath he took.

"My child, are you alright?", his ears heard a soft, male voice on his left and a smile appeared on the young's face.

"Lucian!", he whispered, turning to his left and finding his mate all bandaged up. Some of them were tainted with red spots, meaning that those wounds were still bleeding. Aaron crawled to his side and hugged the new vampire tightly, filling Lucian's face with kisses. "I missed you! I was worried about you!"

Aaron shivered when a clawed hand rubbed his back. He couldn't still see Lucian due to the darkness of the room, but could see the white and bright bandages something that amused him. The window was covered with the curtain and no light penetrated the room from the door. It was like being blind, but he knew that Lucian was besides him. There was nothing to fear of. Slipping his fingers between Lucian's hairs, he could feel two pair of small horns growing from his head and small wings on his back, too. They were tiny and didn't know if they could stand Lucian's weight if he decided to fly.

"What's the matter?", asked the vampire, feeling the nervousness of his mate.

"I can't see you.", answered the boy, with a faint smile on his face. He snuggled on Lucian's chest, feeling both of his arms circling around him in a protective way. Aaron felt happy to feel that warm again. "But I can feel you...", now that he noticed, his neck was still aching, but at last it wasn't than painful.

The vampire chuckled, kissing Aaron's forehead. The boy looked up and could see the bright, red eyes of the vampire looking at him in a tender way. Aaron found them so beautiful shining in the dark... He snuggled closer and, finding his mate's lips with his fingers, he kissed the now cold skin of his lover, in a welcome kiss.

"Does your neck aches?", asked Lucian when Aaron broke the kiss. The young nodded. "Don't worry about it... It will fade soon."

"Does it has anything to do with your return?", the boy felt his mate nod. "Why?"

"It's like... I don't know how to explain it.", Aaron giggled. A hand started to play with his hair. "Each time a vampire is gone for a long period of time, its mate knows when the other it's going to return because his mate's mark starts to ache."

"That's what happened just now, right?"

"Yes. At first it will be annoying and painful, but soon you will get used to it and will ignore the pain.", Lucian stood up from the bed. "I have to see Sheridan. I need to change the bandages; they are getting sticky with blood."

"I want to go with you...", whined Aaron, pouting, still grabbing Lucian's hand.

The vampire laughed softly.

"You can't walk yet, but I think I can carry you. What do you say?"

Aaron stretched his arms to Lucian, who took the indirect. The vampire lifted his mate on his arms, which put his own around his neck, and walked outside the room. Now with the dim light of the lamps in the hall, the boy could see Lucian's new appearance. He blushed at the sight, feeling lightly uncomfortable again. The vampire's skin was paler, but not a bluish color like most vampires. He noticed the small, black horns that felt earlier and there were two pair of wings instead of one, as he thought. His clawed hands gently carried him in the sleeping clothes Carmilla gave him when she carried him to the room. The most peculiar physical change on Lucian was some strange marking on his pale skin. It was on his face, arms and legs, perhaps on his whole body. Just after he looked at them, the marks disappeared. The boy gave a little yell of surprise and Lucian locked eyes with him, smiling and whispering that he would explain after Sheridan attended his wounds.

The vampire seemed like a mummy, all covered with the bandages but, surprisingly, could still walk. He was only wearing short pants and a simple shirt and was barefoot. His legs were all covered with bandages and bloody patches, sticking them with sticky tape (the medical one, not the other). His arms weren't much different, and Aaron knew that his torso was the same. Lucian's face wasn't that bad. It had some minor scratches but, besides that, nothing serious.

They reached the main room of the mansion on the second floor. Aaron saw with joy that Dumas and Nish were alive, but seemed like Lucian all covered with bandages. The albino vampire was smoking near the window while he waited for Carmilla to finish with Dumas, who was sitting on a metal table, the same one that the Terrennials used, helping the girl with the bandages. Said Terrennials were bringing heal potions, creams and other stuff, since with three wounded vampires Sheridan almost ran out of that stuff. Nish was the first to notice that Lucian and Aaron entered the room. He shook the cigarette and the ashes fall outside, as he smiled to both of them when the vampire left the young boy on one of the couches.

"How are you feeling, Aaron?", asked the vampire, taking a nice sip of his cigarette.

Instantly, Dumas turned his head and smiled widely.

"I'm so glad you are safe, kid!", said the former Duke, finish bandaging his left arm. Carmilla put a piece of the sticky tape, finishing with him for now. Nish lighted off his cigarette when the maid told him to come over the table. "I was worried that the gunslingers got you and the Terrennials in middle of your run.", Dumas, helped by his partner, got off the metal table. "So, do you like Lucian's new look?"

Lucian was getting the bandages off his body when the other asked. Aaron was helping him with the ones on his legs. The little wings shook as he smiled with mischief.

"Well, to be honest, I let my imagination flow a bit after what I read on the book.", answered the boy. The bloody bandages fall on the floor as he finished uncurled them. "I was thinking that Lucian would return looking alike...I don't know!", he laughed. "I though he would look creepy."

"Hey!", Lucian's wings shook in anger. The vampire pouted. "That was mean.", the bandages on his arms fall on the floor, besides the ones that were on his legs. Then, he started to undo the ones on his torso. "Glad you didn't see my full form, then."

Seeing that Aaron was lightly confused Nish, which was fighting with the new and itching bandages, answered.

"He is a lot creepier and fearsome in his full form.", explained. "The one you see now it's the one that has while he doesn't use when he releases all the dark power inside him.", he hissed when Carmilla put some cream on a deep wound the vampire had. "I can guarantee that Dumas and I almost crap our pants.", Lucian laughed softly, pleased to know he made the vampires react that way. "It's something to fear, really."

Aaron looked at the calmed Lucian and couldn't imagine him as a fearsome creature like the one that Nish was describing.

"What happened with the gunslingers?", asked then, trying to put away the creepy images he was getting inside his head. The last pieces of the bandages fall off, and Aaron could see several wounds and burns that Lucian had. They were slowly healing up, thanks to the vampire's power, but needed a bit of help seeing that they were pretty serious. Some of them were still bleeding.

Dumas rolled his eyes and showed a naughty smile on his face.

"We had a nice banquet.", was all Dumas said.

The boy shuddered.

"But sadly, Oyan escaped with the few men that survived to our counterattack.", added the albino, thanking Carmilla when she finished changing the bandages. "At that time, the Sun was rising and the gunslingers were out of bullets. We were too tire to keep fighting."

Lucian's wings shook again and Aaron found it funny each time they did that. He muffled his laugh with his hands.

"I so wanted to eat him!", the vampire exclaimed. "Perhaps next time we see each other I will be able to eat him."

Dumas giggled at the thought and fall on the couch, very tired. Perrault appeared in the room, followed by Nero and Toasty, and landed on her master's chest, curling on it. Nero rested on Aaron's lap while Toasty changed into his human form and sat besides the boy. Carmilla left soon after she finished with Nish, letting Lucian to do it by himself. Aaron thought if Lucian had asked her to not bother with him, or she actually remembered something of her past, and seeing that Lucian didn't remember her anymore she didn't care anymore either. He helped his mate with the creams and bandages, hearing the talk that Nish and the others were having. The vampire has lighted another cigarette, and was just staring at the wall in front of him, while Dumas fall asleep on the couch, visible tired after the effort he put into the fight even when his body wasn't fully recovered from his revival.

Aaron asked how started all and Nish said that they were in the clear of the forest, helping Lucian with his transformation. The moon rays that illuminated him where helping in easing his pain through it. He was almost complete when he suddenly stood up, growling furiously. The streams of Dark Matter dancing around his body moved nervous, resonating with the vampire's emotions. The steams materialized into two pairs of dark wings, with skulls and sharp bones on their junction. The horns that he had now weren't that short, actually. They were twice their current size, and his clawed hands were covered with skulls, too, along with long and sharp nails. His pale skin started to cover up with the runes he saw when they got off the room, and like that, he run off from the clear, clearly returning to the mansion. Worrying that the new vampire would do something stupid, like drinking his mate's blood, attacking someone or killing someone, Dumas and Nish went behind him barely catching his speed.

It was a surprise for both groups. The gunslingers got in defensive mode when they saw the three vampires suddenly show up, and the vampires were surprised to see them in the forecourt. It was all good until Lucian spotted the weak Aaron lying on the bench, being protected by Nero and Toasty, and a good amount of hounds, Ghouls and other monsters. He lost it instantly. The Dark Matter dancing around his body formed sharp and pointy needles that went straight to the gunslingers. All of them took out their light shields that worked against the attack, repelling it, but most of them cracked when the attack impacted on their surface. Nish summoned his ice powers, which took everyone off guard, and started attacking like Lucian, with equal force. Dumas, seeing that he couldn't Trance with Perrault yet, who was with her human form beating up some gunslingers, managed to summon some of his dark powers and use some of his Trance attacks to counterattack.

Oyan seemed to try and get closer to the stun boy, but he was having a hard time with the vampires that protected him with fierce. Just a few instants after the battle started, the boy awoke from his sleep and the Terrennials picked him up to try and run away, and Oyan, dodging an attack, managed to shot his weapon. Toasty could save the boy and he and Nero run away from the forecourt, leaving the fight behind. It was funny to see that once the boy was out of danger, Lucian started to attack with stronger attacks, trying to kill all the gunslinger of a first try. He was succeeding, but at the cost of being injured by the solar shots, knives and other stuff the enemy had. He was not thinking clearly, just trying to kill all the enemies just to be sure that his mate wasn't going to be in any future danger.

Nish was the one that noticed it and grabbed the panting vampire by his arms, dragging him across the battlefield to a safe place. Dumas followed closely behind with Perrault at his side, protecting them from the attacks of the gunslingers. Oyan, seeing that Nish was desperate doing a retreat, he forced a retreat, too. He had only five men left, in good shape, and more than forty alive but severely injured, and around twenty dead. They all put away their weapons and run away, leaving the other men in the field at the vampire's mercy. Once Oyan had disappeared from sight, Nish released the angry and growling Lucian that instantly jumped to the nearest gunslinger. The men tried to fight back but the strong vampire broke both of his arms with a single swift of his hands, hearing with much pleasure the pain scream he made, and proceed to eat him up while hearing those sounds that ringed in his ears. Seeing their own fate, the men that could still walk stood up and started to fled, but the ice wall that Nish created before them stopped the men, that looked around in a desperate way to escape.

Following Lucian's example, Dumas caught one and started to feed, moaning at the sensation of the warm blood pouring from the men's neck, to his fangs and then to his hungry stomach. When was the last time he could enjoy of such feast? He could see Nish growing excited too at the mere sight of other vampire's feeding and at the scent of fresh blood. Dumas could see how his partner grew fierce, showing his hidden claws and fangs. The ice vampire tackled a brave gunslinger that tried to kill him, and proceed to feed, breaking his ribs, arms and waist bones with such force that the wounds started to bleed from the inside. The former Duke released the body he had in his fangs, seeing that the men couldn't move due to the amount of blood he lost, and licked his lips, laughing. When was the last time he felt so happy about feeding? His long claws twitched in excitement as he walked to his next prey. He picked a young one. Young men and women have always the most delicious blood. When was the last time he hunted for real? He growled, showing his long fangs to the picked one that tried to shove him away with his weapon out of bullets. He smiled widely, hearing how Lucian jumped to his next food and Nish give a content sigh, and attacked the young one, biting his neck in the first try, drinking his blood quickly and grabbing his arms to prevent the gunslinger to harm him more than he already was.

They continued feeding until the first rays of the new day. By then, the three of them had finished eating up all the gunslingers that were abandoned by Oyan. They were full, happy vampires. When he finished eating, Lucian returned to his old self but having smaller version of the wings and horns he had in his full form. The runes stayed, too, and the skulls and long claws of his hands disappeared. He was calmer now. When the transformation finally ended, he looked around and jumped at the sight of the dead, dismembered bodies lying all over the forecourt. Had he done all of this? Was it because he couldn't control his new dark powers, his new vampire form? Lucian could feel the metallic taste of the blood his mouth and, surprisingly for him, loved it, feeling he hadn't enough of it. He saw blood on his hands and started to lick them clean, desperate for more of that red elixir. Now that he noticed it, all his body was splashed with blood. And then, he remembered the previous events; the clear in the forest, the run off, the gunslingers, the Terrennials running away with Aaron, the fight, the feeding... Lucian closed his fists and opened them again.

He was a full vampire now, capable of doing things he never dreamed to do. Slowly, the craving for blood disappeared. He turned around and saw Nish picking up a weak Dumas into his arms. Perrault had long ago returned to his beast form and was sitting on the ice vampire's shoulder.

"How are you feeling?", asked the former Duke. He was back, like Nish, to his old self. He almost gave up to his crave for feeding.

"...not so weird.", answered Lucian, walking to them. "I feel like always, just... different. I don't know."

He was confused but, at the same time, knew what was happening. Nish suggested to turn all the dead gunslingers into Ghouls and then head towards the Terrennials fled; Sheridan's mansion. After doing it, the three of them tripped to it and reached it just when the Sun started to bath the entire planet with its bright light, something that Nish didn't seem to like at all. Walking under the shadow's trees, they made it to the mansion. Carmilla opened the door and stood there, watching them, not believing what she saw but made them enter. Sheridan acceded to help them in their injuries but didn't like the fact that Dumas was with Lucian. The professor still hated the former Duke after all he had to go through, but left that old hate aside and concentrated in healing the vampire's wounds.

Nish, after he finished telling Aaron all what happened, lighted off his cigarette and exhaled the last smoke breath he had in his lungs. Dumas was still sleeping on the couch, covering his eyes with his left forearm. The ice vampire was sitting next to him and was entertaining himself in petting Dumas' hair. Lucian smiled when he, finally, finished with all the bandages.

"Then Oyan will not rest until he has me.", said the boy, cuddling besides Lucian that sat next to him. Nero made himself a place between the two and lay there, receiving soft pets from both of them. "I just worry for Alexander, though."

"He will be fine.", said Toasty after a long while. "We have to talk with Ernest about this, since he knows Oyan better than us.", the Terrennial stretched up, yawning. "I think I'm going to rest for a bit.", hi shined in a dim, white light and transformed into his plant form, leaving the room floating in air.

Since Dumas seemed to sleep until late, Nish suggested talking with Ernest as soon as possible and think a way to rescue Alexander and, at the same time, kicking Oyan out of the East cities. Aaron stood up but fell quickly after, still too weak to move. He told Nero to bring Sheridan to the main room on the second floor and bring him a phone or something to talk with Ernest. The cat disappeared like Toasty, flapping his tiny, red wings.

"Shouldn't we ask for Alice's advice?", suddenly said the boy, a few minutes after Nero left.

Lucian's eyes widen in horror.

"Have you fucking lost it?!", answered instead. Nish smiled, amused, at Lucian's reaction. "She hasn't been bugging me in the past two years!"

"I know that!", replied Aaron. "She can tell us Oyan's entire moves from the outer space, especially how many gunslingers are on the north lands."

"It will come handy if Oyan wants' to start a war in Acuna.", seconded Nish. "If we know where the enemy is hiding, our chances of defeating it will increase."

"But she is so annoying!", whined the vampire.

Aaron rolled his eyes.

Sheridan came to the room with a cell phone on his hands. He gave it to Aaron and sat on a chair, asking the two vampires if they were better now. They thanked the professor his hospitality and asked if they could stay in the mansion since the gunslingers already broke into their hideout. Lucian knew that Sheridan wanted all of them out of his house since he hated vampires, but couldn't deny their wish since the professor knew Lucian and Aaron for quiet a while and they have helped him in the past, too. And now, he had to decide if they stayed or not. He excused himself from the room and left, to find a place to think clearly.

He chooses to go to the indoor garden the mansion had. Next to it, it was the kitchen, where Carmilla was preparing some food for the young boy. Sheridan could notice a delicious meat stew scent in the air and with it, he stepped into the garden. It didn't had any light except the moon's one, that went through the huge glass ceiling. He stopped and sat on a stone bench, closing his eyes, feeling the food's smell...

He was going to help Lucian and Aaron, but he didn't want to help the other two vampires, especially Dumas, who was the one that actually sent Stoke to bring him to the Vambery Tower and keep him there to work along the mad scientific in the Casket Armors. He didn't want to work on the young girl that Stoker brought when the war finished, when Ratatosk died at Dumas' hands, but the ice vampire obliged him to do so, transforming her human body into a bionic one. Her hair was cut, her skin lost all the bright and healthy color it had, her memories were erased... The bright girl she once was, it was all lost, in one of Stoker's machines. When Lucian and Aaron decided to take over the Vambery, all of that stuff was destroyed. Sheridan wanted to bring that joyful girl back, once the Duke was defeated, but he didn't imagine that both boys would go after the tower. And with it, all hopes for Carmilla to return to her original self were lost.

Sheridan had another assignment, how Stoker used to call human dissections or transformation of humans to another sort of creature, that was another girl called Laura, who is the current Solar Bank owner. In contrast with Carmilla, whose program was a prototype and failed because Sheridan couldn't finish since he managed to escape with both girls, Laura's was complete; she didn't have any human emotion, the main thing Stoker wanted to get rid off. But, strangely, Carmilla kept her native emotions of human and that was something that Laura admired. In terms of techniques, Carmilla's try was a complete failure since the girl still had her human emotions, but Laura didn't see it that way; it was a miracle she still had them. And, at some point, she felt jealous of Carmilla, seeing that she had something that was taken from her. But the two of them went along well and helped Sheridan in getting a new home to live.

After a few months, Laura found a job in the Solar Bank and had to leave the mansion, since it was too far from her job. Sheridan allowed it and wished her the best luck. After she left, Carmilla had a lightly depression. She didn't do the house work as she always did, and often sat on a window and stare outside, as if she wanted to see Laura come back to the mansion. The new bank owner could visit them from time to time, but her busy horary didn't let her, sometimes, visit them for months. Soon, Carmilla got used to those very rare visits and got back to her old self, starting to clean the house and prepare the professor's food as always.

Sheridan would never forget the appearance of the human girl that Stoker brought and had to convert into something else. That day, she was wearing a dirty, red dress. She was barefoot and her skin extremely pale and the man deduced that the Duke had fed from her. She had pretty, long brown hair and beautiful green eyes. The man also noticed a beauty spot on her right side of her face, just above her lips. That was all what he remembered of Carmilla's human self. He didn't know her name either and named her that way after a famous writer from the old era that wrote a book with the same name.

He knew that the first time that Lucian came to his mansion along with Nero; he could see that the dark swordsman felt something twitch in his chest when he saw the maid standing in the doorway. Sheridan never asked Lucian if he knew the girl Carmilla was before and, since she lost all her memories thanks to Stoker's work, could found out if both of them met in the past. But he was digging a lot in the past. He had to focus on the present and future. He would allow Lucian and Aaron to stay the time they wanted to, after all they helped him with some researches about the Vambery and Stoker. Nish... He might let him stay, but for a while and Dumas, he wanted that vampire off his house immediately. He didn't know how he stuck with the boys or how the boys let him stick with them, but knew it was because of Lucian. He needed someone who was vampire to guide him through his transformation and seeing that the former Duke was still alive, he asked for his help. Sheridan narrowed his eyebrows. Lucian wasn't the type of person to go and ask for help. Could it be Nero the one that asked for Dumas' help, and Lucian saw he didn't have any choice but to stay with him? What had the former Duke asked in return?

He stood up and left the garden. Carmilla wasn't in the kitchen anymore and supposed she went to bring the food to Aaron. Sheridan went to the main room of the floor and found only Aaron and Dumas, who was still sleeping, there.

"Where did Lucian and Nish go?", asked the man, sitting on a couch.

"To bring Ernest, Kay and Bea here.", answered the boy. He had a nice place of meat stew on his legs. "Nero and Toasty are going to stay here to protect us, and I think Ezra and Tove will come too."

Sheridan nodded.

"I think I can let your friends stay, too.", said the man, watching the boy eat.

"Really?", Aaron was surprised. Sheridan hated vampires.

"Yes, but as soon all this... problem solves out, I want them out."

"I understand.", then, as thinking in something for a few seconds, he left the spoon on the plate. "What are you going to do if the East cities let vampires lives with humans? Leave, right?"

Sheridan laughed softly and nodded a second time.

"Where would you go? Hope not so far, because then we couldn't come and visit."

"I don't know.", answered the man. "Perhaps the south or west cities. After this... invasion from the north, I wouldn't like to go there, especially because you and Lucian will not be able to get through the frontier."

"Will you bring Carmilla with you?"

"But of course!", he smiled. "What kind of question is that?"

"What about Laura?", Sheridan seemed surprised at that.

"Do you know her?"

"But of course, she is the Solar Bank owner and manages our store items and money.", said the boy. "And told us about you and her time in the Vambery and how she met you and Carmilla."

"Well...", he let out a deep sigh. "It will depend. She left the mansion a few years ago after finding job in the bank and due to her work she barely visits us."

Aaron lowered his head and took a nice amount of the stew into his mouth. He smiled. It was delicious. He was going to miss Carmilla's food if Sheridan leaves with her.


	15. Chapter 15

**(Fixed some mistakes, Re-Upload.)**

**Hello dears! I hope you are having a nice week!**

**Slack-jawed cheese hugger: You should play the original Boktai games, they are awesome. And yes, I will keep it up :3 Thanks!**

**Kemeno: Yes, Nish is an ice vampire. Thank you!**

**-dragonclaw-coco: XD Yeah, he is too cool now! Thank you!**

**Lady-of-destruction-aria: Hahaha! I don't know where in my mind I got the image of Lucian with tinny horns and wings. XD But glad you liked it. Well, yes, in a way Dumas deserves it. I'm glad you hadn't found any mistakes in the previous chapter; hope you don't find anyone in this. Thanks!**

**And now, onto chapter fifteen.**

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15

It was around midnight when Lucian and Nish returned with the three gunslingers from the Guild. Surprisingly, Dumas was still sleeping when they come into the room, while Aaron was playing cards with Carmilla. Sheridan had long ago gone to bed.

Bea sat next to Aaron and hugged the boy tenderly, asking how he was after the agitated evening he had with the north gunslingers. When everyone sat, Ernest started to relate the situation over Acuna and the cities near it. Oyan had taken the Guild and Kay and Bea managed to get everyone out before he did that, and were now hiding in the hideout they used in the invasion to New Cualiacan four years before. For the moment they were safe, but Ernest didn't know if Oyan's spy knew about it and wasn't going to tell his leader until the right time, something that terrified Ernest to no end. Among the survivors of the last war and the last invasion, there were rookies that didn't reach their twelve years or their fifteens. They were too young to be involved in such fight and Ernest didn't want them to get injured because of Oyan and his obsession of killing every vampire on the planet, but didn't know a way to protect them better than keeping them in the hideout.

The north gunslingers started to gain control over the streets of Acuna, Thirteenth Street, Old Culiacan and they were slowly getting in the domains of New Culiacan that was still terribly infested with monsters. Not only were they gaining the streets, but followers as well. Oyan had this interesting ability of convincing everyone to follow him and how good he was at it; in mere days, he had reunited almost a thousand of followers, all humans and creatures that hated vampires and had the same target as Oyan. While the rest of the population, vampires, humans and other creatures, were getting harassed by them and Oyan managed to kick some families out if they didn't obey him. Slowly, everything was getting out of hand and a new tyranny was going to start if the didn't stop the crazy gunslinger.

There was still an opportunity. Since vampires relay on each other of their own race, they could ask for their help as well for the help of those who didn't hate vampires at all. But then it was the other face of said creatures; those who hated humans with all their might. What about them? They couldn't oblige them to cooperate like Oyan was doing, but they couldn't let them interfere in their plans. How they were going to restrict them? They needed to call all the vampires in a common place that Oyan didn't know of, or choose a day where the patrols weren't that active during the night. Someone could spread the word and let the interested ones come over to talk and debate about what was happening in Acuna and the other cities. They needed to think what to say and what not to say. Ernest suggested that Dumas could do this part since he was a man of words and knew what to say in the right way. Perhaps most of the vampires reunited would recognize him and will start calling him names, but due to his bitchy personality he wasn't going to let other step on him, except for Lucian and Aaron of course, and probably Nish, but that was another subject. If he goes with a strong vampire at his side, it could be his new partner or even Lucian, and then he was going to have more chances in convincing other of their own race and start reuniting a small but strong group to fight Oyan back.

Ernest knew the days where was less gunslinger patrolling Acuna, but Lucian said it would be better summoning them in the ruined Dark Castle. Even though it was slowly crumbling under its feet, it was a well know place but also a discreet one, since Oyan would never know they were going to hide there. He would think they will do it in underground jails or something like that and, perhaps, start looking there instead of obvious places like that. They all agreed about the place, now, the day and time. The sooner the better, but it would take time in spreading the word and explaining everything to the interested ones. Lucian remembered the family of vampires he saved from the gunslingers when he went to Acuna with Ezra time ago. He could go and search for them and explain what was happening in the city and ask for their help. What about the owner of the Inn that was kindly enough to give them the best room he had? Lucian knew the man was very fond with the vampires, since part of his family was constituted by said creatures. He could try. Kay knew some people they might help them, and Bea thought of some distant family members that were in a similar cause like they were fighting for.

Once everything was seated, the tree gunslingers left the mansion with Nish, while Lucian stayed with Aaron in the main room for a bit after they left, and then went to their room to place the boy on the bed. The poor one was still suffering the blood lose and couldn't move yet, but his legs were starting to feel stronger after each of Carmilla's meal. He knew the girl put some kind of healing potion in them to make him feel better. Lucian kissed him and exited the room, finding Dumas finally up on the couch. The former Duke made a big yawn before cheering the other vampire.

"You sure took a nice and long nap.", said Lucian, sitting on the opposite couch. "Do you feel better?"

"Hell yes.", answered, standing up. "I was so damn tired. And I'm still are."

"Have you heard what we where talking about?"

"Of course. I might been sleeping, but my ears were listening to each word carefully.", he smirked. "I think I can still play as the tyrant and bitchy Duke I used to be."

"Just don't bite heads off, please, we will need them."

Dumas winked at him.

"Oh, I will try.", said before he left.

Lucian found himself alone in the room, but needed that solitude. He didn't want to say it to Aaron because the boy would get offended or something and the vampire didn't want that. The last two days were so tiring and so agitated, everything had happened terribly fast for him, for Aaron... A new war! The last one, eleven years ago, seems so distant but so recent at the same time. How he suffered that war, how he missed Trinity and how he couldn't still believe that he sacrificed himself for someone like him, after all he did in the past... Lucian still regretted a few things about his past that couldn't get rid off.

"Musing?", said a soft voice. Lucian opened his eyes and smirked. Toasty, in his plant form, slowly made his way towards the vampire. He sat on the couch's back, next to him. "Something that concerns you?"

"Oh...", said Lucian in a whisper. "Many things.", he sighed. "I was hoping to not see another war in my life time, but seem that they will hunt me until the day I die."

"Are you tired of them?"

"So much...", answered Lucian tiredly, closing his eyes, submerging in painful memories of his dark past. "I have suffered every time I wanted to protect or change things on places I lived...", Toasty listened carefully. Even thought he had to admit that Lucian wasn't of his liking, he wanted to put in practice the suggestions Ezra told him. "Trinity, for example... I knew he saved me because I was his partner, his friend, but sometimes I look up at the starry and dark sky of the night and ask myself if it was really worthy seeing the type of person I am."

"You don't seem to be a bad person, why do you say those things?", asked confused the light Terrennial. "I might not like you, but that doesn't mean you are a bad person at all."

Lucian laughed.

"If you knew all the things I did... If you only remembered, Toasty...", answered Lucian. Toasty narrowed his eyes. He was getting more confused now. "After all I have done, sometimes I think I don't deserve a second chance like the one I had. I have used the person I once loved, I killed it, tried to find a way to revive it, failed, betrayed my only family, almost killed one of them... Well, I technically did, but it doesn't matter. He is dead by now.", he smiled sadly. "I have been a prisoner, I had escaped, I had been taken care by Trinity, I have meet again the person I loved and killed, and I thought that after the war with the Duke I was going to, at last, have some happiness, the very one that never enjoyed since I was a kid, but fate has laughed at me again."

Lucian rested his head on the couch's back, looking up to the ceiling. He could feel Toasty's eyes on him.

"Fate took my best friend and my love away, and took also part of me in the process, obliging me to accept the real person I am, the one I have always been but rejected.", he smiled, this time a joyful smile. "I think the best thing of all this is Aaron..."

"He had lighted your dark path in so many ways...", added the Terrennial, closing his eyes, smiling internally to himself and the vampire.

"Yes, he is my little Sun that bright the shadow my Moon casts upon me.", the vampire sighed and lifted his head. "With him, most of my pain from the things I have done in the past flys away, to be filled with his love for me.", Lucian made himself comfortable on the couch by lying on it. Toasty floated down on his chest, like he used to do when Trinity was resting under the shadow of a tree in a warm afternoon. "Thinking of it, he is all I have. He keeps me sane, in a way."

"I haven't see you with a strait jacket before.", said the Terrennial, laughing.

The vampire groaned, but smiled.

"It would be a nice start; I can lose it at a minimal provocation."

Toasty and Lucian kept talking for a few hours later until the vampire gave up and fall asleep on the couch like Dumas did. He didn't want to show it, but he was damn tired after the transformation and the fight he had with the gunslingers back in the forecourt. Even if he was now a creature that didn't need the same basic things as a human, the rest was an obligatory task. Toasty decided to leave him sleeping on the couch and left the room and find a nice place for himself to sleep.

The next evening the vampires were much healthier than the night before, and Aaron was recovering at incredible speed too. He could stand up without any help and walk for a bit before feeling dizzy and in the need to lay on something to prevent an ugly fall. He was eating quiet a lot to replace the blood lose and Carmilla was very happy with the high appetite the young boy had, since that mean making lots of food and she could oblige Sheridan to eat it too, since the alchemist barely eat something in all day. Ernest and the rest arrived at the mansion around ten in the night saying that they were ready to go and try to spread the word into the vampires that wanted to help them. Bea already talked with the relatives she had and they were going to help them, bringing powerful weapons and special armors for the vampires that wanted to go with them. Said armors were going to protect them from the gunslinger's bullets.

The three vampires dressed up, Lucian kissed Aaron good-bye and left with them and the gunslingers, along with Nero, Perrault and Toasty, while Ezra and Ursula stayed in the mansion to take care the ones in there, and Tove stayed outside, guarding the perimeter. Aaron went to Sheridan's personal library and found with interest a copy of the book that had left abandoned in the Hunting Mansion, the same one that talked about vampirism. He took it out from the shelve and sat on the table to read it, but grow bored of it. The boy left it on the table and left the library. He went to his room, dressed with some warm clothes Carmilla left on his bed, put the warm, black and red coat and boots that Dumas gave him and left the mansion without saying to anyone. Aaron didn't want to be constantly guarded, he hated it.

The night was very cold. The winter was coming too soon. Luckily for him, the sky wasn't covered with dark clouds. It was clear and the moon was shining brightly even when it was in its crescent phase. A few days more and New Moon will arrive. He couldn't believe how many things happened in so short time, but was glad that they did happen perhaps not in that order and under the same circumstances. One of the things he wanted to never happen was the call that Ernest did to Oyan that asked for help. If the man didn't call the north gunslinger, none of this would happen. But now that Aaron thought of it, Oyan seemed very convinced into "liberating" the East cities from vampires. Could it be that the leader would have invaded the East lands even if Ernest hadn't call him? And what if Ernest didn't call, but Oyan did, and Ernest only accepted his help seeing that he needed people to help him in finding the once missing Aaron? Then the fight or war was intentional from the very beginning. Oyan might had investigated by himself and with his spy the current situation of the East cities, especially Acuna and both Culiacans, and then traced a plan. The spy could have known of the disappearing boy and how desperate Ernest was in finding him. A perfect way to come into the city without looking suspicious. After all, they were helping a "comrade". Who would suspect?

"What have I told you to not go out without your vampire mate?"

Aaron jumped in surprise. He looked up and saw the same hatter man that saved him a few days ago from the north gunslingers. The young man was lying on a tree branch, the hat covering his face. He seemed to be sleeping since he had his belonging bag and his dirty jacket covering his body from the coldness of the night.

"You are stubborn, kid.", said the foreigner. He put the hat away and Aaron could notice his dirty, blond hair and bright grey eyes. "What makes you come here and take a midnight walk?"

"I have been locked in so much time that I'm getting sick of it.", answered the boy, approaching the tree were the man was resting. "What are you doing here? Are you Sheridan's friend?"

"Who's that?", said the young man, putting on his jacket, grabbing his bag and jumping from the tree to the ground.

"He is a well known alchemist, and lives in the mansion that it's behind me.", answered the boy, pointing to the house hidden behind the tall trees.

"Oh! Then I know who is he!", the foreigner smiled and Aaron could see long and pointy fangs in his mouth. He also saw his pointy ears, but couldn't define him as a dhampir either because of this. "Are you still trying to see if I'm a dhampir or a vampire?"

"Yes."

"Well, you could say I'm both.", the foreigner took the boy's arm and tangled it with his own, making him walk in the forest. "It's hard to understand, but it's true."

"Indeed it is.", the boy took sight of a very old type of solar gun hanging from the man's waist. "Are you a gunslinger?"

"Oh? You noticed it?", he smiled. "I used to be. I had no intention in killing vampires anymore.", the man petted the unused gun with gentleness. "I keep it because it's a gift from my deceased father."

"Was he a gunslinger too?", asked the boy with curiosity.

"Kinda. He was more a vampire hunter, he always worked alone."

"My dad was too, but he got killed when I was still a child and I only know him by photos."

The young men sighed.

"I have lived with my parents until the age of twelve or fifteen, I can't remember, before my dad went into hunting. He was killed by a vampire, my mum disappeared and I was left alone, with this same gun, to search for them.", he put the bag over his shoulder.

"Did you succeed?"

"Sadly, no. Both of them died at the vampire's hands but after a few years, well quiet a lot actually, I learned to forgive and give a chance to those who killed my family seeing that a few of them had helped me in my youth.", the man looked down to the young boy and smiled to him. "I can't be a bastard and keep killing their races after what they have done for me. Besides, I have also learned that vampires are like humans, just with different habits. They see humans the same way humans sees them, I was being hypocrite, I still am but it's something we must live with, and that hypocrisy was the one that made me decide to stop using my gun against them. Oh, yes...", he added with a mischief smile. "I haven't introduced myself, how rude of me! I'm Dyango, pleased to meet you again."

Aaron giggled.

"I'm Aaron, pleased to meet you again too."

Dyango laughed softly.

"You seem to be a good kid, what are you doing here in Sheridan's mansion? Weren't you in Acuna last time I saw you?"

"Hiding.", answered Aaron. "The gunslinger broke in the Hunting Mansion, where we were staying, Acuna it's dangerous for us, New Culiacan it's not a nice place for me, Old Culiacan the same and Thirteenth Street it's as infested with monsters as New Culiacan, and there aren't too much supplies there either.", explained later. "After the last fight four years ago, everything went down, specially the commerce, and the East city it's trying to raise again, slowly but safe. And now, with this invasion from the North...", the boy sighed.

"It's alright, kid. Don't lose hopes. Even thought the north gunslingers are strong, mighty and have a hell of weaponry, we still have some cards under our sleeves.", said Dyango with that same mischief smile.

"Which ones?"

"Oh, if I told you now, those aren't going to be secret anymore.", he smirked and Aaron could see that smirk was somehow familiar. Who smiled like that? "Just wait, young one, wait and see. When the time comes, you might be healthy and strong again, and you will fight again. But I think, that the ones that will end up fighting will be the vampires against the gunslingers again."

"Is that a good or a bad thing?"

"It will depend on how you see it. Oh, can I ask some personal question, please?", said Dyango, showing his fangs.

"It will depend on what kind of question."

"What's the name of your vampire's mate?"

"Why would you want to know that?"

"Oh, haven't I told you? I'm a writer, and I like to write about vampires and stuff like that.", explained Dyango. "I have stayed in the Inn you and your mate's uses, because that's what the owner told me when I asked if he knew some dhampir or vampire that was staying at his Inn, and got interested in both of you."

"A writer, eh?", Aaron narrowed his eyes. "By any chance, are you the one who wrote that vampirism book?"

"The only one in all glory.", answered the young man, proud that the kid knew about his master piece.

"Then why your name it's spelled with j?", asked the boy instead of answering Dyango's previous question.

"Oh, that? An error of the editor of the book. He was half deaf, you see."

"That's why it's spelled 'Django'?"

"Yes, that's why, but don't try to change the subject, dear friend. You still have to answer my question."

"His name is Lucian.", said Aaron. "He it's kinda mean sometimes but can be the most gentle person I ever met. He can be sweet, too, and very loving.", explained Aaron. The men took mental notes of that. "He has this strange liking for masochist and sadism, but I guess it's what it makes his persona. I don't complain about that...", added with a deep blush. "He is pretty aggressive too. Mm, no, scratch that..."

Dyango laughed softly, and let the boy continue.

"He loves being that way, he loves showing his power, his strength. He loves to fight with such violence... It's like a beast..."

"Are you afraid of that face of your mate?"

"I used to, but after four years being with him, nothing can surprise me.", said the boy with a smile on his face, and the men thought how wrong the kid was.

"Have you seen his true form?"

"Not yet, though I want to."

"I have done some research and if I'm not mistaken, he was human before, right?", Aaron nodded. "Who was he before?"

"A gunslinger. He fought besides my father against Lord of Destruction, but Dumas killed him and wanted to kill Lucian and my father. Dumas could badly damage Lucian, but my father saved him."

"How?", Dyango was confused.

"Nero says that he slipped from Dumas' Terrennial, Perrault, and bonded with him."

"The Lunar Terrennial...", whispered the men. "What was your father's name?"

"Trinity.", Aaron could see how the man's eyes widen and his body tensed. "He wanted to name me after a childhood friend he had, something about an ancient warrior, but my mum didn't like it, as Ernest told me."

"Did your mate have another name before changing to who is now?"

"I think it was Sartana..."

Dyango nodded.

"Hope I'm not bugging you too much with these questions, I have a terrible curiosity."

"Not really, but I should get moving back to the mansion. Sheridan will kill me if he doesn't' know where I am, because then Lucian will kill him for letting me out.", said Aaron with a foolish smile.

"Oh, yes! Right!", Dyango untangled his arm from Aaron's one. "I'm sorry I entertained you like this but, can we talk another time?"

"Of course!", answered the boy. "I think we will be in this area for a while so, just come here and send me a message saying you are here so I can come."

"I will, now, rush back!", whispered the young man. "We don't want Sheridan to piss off at you, do we?"

Aaron giggled. Turned over and left running towards the mansion.

Dyango's smiled disappeared as he showed his back to the running teen, looking at the deep, black shadow the Moon casted down on the ground before him. He gripped his teeth. How could he?! Still alive, and didn't care after him at all! What kind of person was he?

"_You seem pretty pissed."_, came a soft, male voice from the shadow, which changed it's silhouette. _"Was it because of what the Moon's mate told you?"_

"Oh, what do you think?", spat the men at his changing shadow.

"_You don't have any reason to be mad at him. After all, he suffered more than you did down there in that prison..."_

"Indeed he did, but I had my hopes up, while he lost them after he was taken from our family.", Dyango put his hat on again and closed his dirty jacket. "He destroyed my youth!", added with a comical and fake sadness. The shadow laughed loudly.

"_You have changed your sense of humor, and you are more... naughty. Why is that?"_, asked the shadow, following each of Dyango's move. The men started to walk back to Acuna.

"After being for almost thirty years with you, who wouldn't stick up with your wicked sense of humor, dear Shadow?", answered Dyango with a smirk on his face.

"_Me? Wicked? How dare you to offend me!"_, continued to play along the shadow.

"You liked brother because of how his personality was similar to yours?"

"_But of course! After hearing what the Moon's mate said, I'm starting to like him even more."_

"You can't wait and see him again, can you?", said the men, disappearing under his shadow as if the ground was eating him up.

Aaron got a nice reprimand from Ezra. The fox girl yelled at the boy when he crossed the principal door and dragged him from the coat's neck to the living room, in where she made him sat on a chair while she screamed at him, saying how dangerous it would be for him to go outside without someone to protect him, seeing that the north gunslingers would even dare to step on the mansion's territory. After hearing the ice Terrennial for about half an hour, Aaron was free to return to his room. The boy sighed and took off the coat, dropping it on the bed and his body following afterwards. He was so tired of being jailed inside anything. He was starting to think that Lucian drank a lot of his blood to prevent him to do something stupid. Aaron couldn't blame him. After all, he would have done something stupid trying to help. But it wasn't fair! Why he has to stay while the others did the entire job by themselves? Not even Dumas was healthy enough to fight, he was in a same state as Aaron was now. It was a conspiracy against him, he knew it!

If he could let Dyango come close to the mansion or sneak out without Ezra or the others noticing, the boy would have some fun with a possible new friend, talking with him in the forest instead of being locked in his room, having nothing to do. But didn't know how to contact Dyango again...

The Inn! Yes! The young man said he was staying at the same Inn that he and Lucian rented. The idea was soon trashed as he remembered that the Inn was in Acuna, now the most dangerous place for him. Aaron groaned as he crawled to the center of the king-sized bed and flopped on it, facing the ceiling, that interesting ceiling that had nothing of interest but was the only thing that had interest enough for Aaron to see right now. How he was going to tell Dyango when he wanted to see him? If he told Ezra, Ursula, Tove or Sheridan they will all reject and start asking numerous questions about this young man that had an interest in him, saying it could be Oyan's spy. The boy bit his bottom lip. Could it be possible? Oyan hated vampires; there was no way in hell he would ask for a vampire's help. Unless he had said creature under a certain spell or had something of high importance to it. There was nothing more that will make Oyan happy that have a vampire under his orders.

Leaving those thoughts aside, he started to think a way to call Dyango and meet him without the others knowing. He can't go outside the mansion if he wasn't companied with anyone. Delivering a message was the option but he didn't know how, until a small vampire bat screeched near the room's window. Aaron looked at it, and the beast looked back. The boy smiled. He rushed to the desk near it and started to search for paper and something to write on it. After looking in every drawer, he finally found a pencil. Sitting down on the chair, he started to write on the blank paper. The vampire bat made its way inside the room and started to fly in it, feeling content that its master needed its help. The beast waited patiently on the bed, crawling from time to time and sniffing around. Its master smelled very good.

"Come here, boy!", said Aaron with enthusiasm. The small bat flew to him with same feeling, landing on the desk. The boy petted it with gentleness before folding the letter in a tinny piece of paper that put on the vampire bat's back with a thin rope. Carefully, he made a knot on the paper to prevent it to fall while the beats flew to its destiny. "Alright... Mm...", hummed the boy. He grabbed a card opener and made a small cut on his index finger. "Here, take the letter to this man.", ordered as he gave the blood sample to the beast that took it with pleasure. The bat sucked on the cut before flying out from the room.

Aaron watched it go away and then looked back at his cut, which was healing up pretty quickly. Now, he only had to wait for the letter to be delivered.


	16. Chapter 16

**(Fixed some mistakes, Re-Upload.)**

**Head Baka: At first I didn't know what the hell you wrote, but then when I read the rest of the review, I got the idea. XD I'm waiting for more chapters of your fan fic!! Where are they? Unless you have updated and I forgot to put you in my Author Alerts and then I didn't know you had updated… ONOES!! **

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16

The outer space was calm. Since the defeat of Polidori and the destruction of Byron, the atmosphere of the planet was clear and without problems. Near the planet's orbit, a giant satellite floated in it. It was pure white, with solar cells around it, and a huge cannon on the top. Laplace was placed near the bottom of the satellite, unused for about four years. Which it was good, since the habitants in the floating machine needed to fix the big hunter fortress after its last show against Polidori.

The silence was interrupted by an annoying ringing sound from the control room. It was one of the biggest, along with the machine room, with several tables with many buttons that would make a child crazy with all their different shapes, colors and lights. It had some floating windows that showed results of some test running on Laplace inside and outside the satellite, as well as some test from the satellite itself. There was also a huge window which was made for the only purpose to see the outer space without using the cameras that were placed in different spots on the surface of the machine. From it, the planet, the Sun and the Moon were seen, and the pink haired girl sleeping on the control table loved to sit and watch these three stellar beings spin around each other.

The ringing stopped and then, a few seconds latter, started again. The girl's bunny ears twitched in anger at the annoying sound and decided to finally awake. Her messy hair, result from her odd sleeping position, fall on her face as she tried to push it back, trying to find her phone that laid somewhere in room. She spun in her spinning chair, looking around. She got up, her jacket that was hanging from the back of it fall to the ground and tripped over her black boots that where on the floor. She yawned, visible tired after a long and hard work. Again, the phone ceased its ringing and the girl groaned. She adjusted her short, purple pants, making his little bun tail comfortable, and put back in place her black bikini top. Her red eyes scanned the room and, giving a joyful cry, found her pink phone. Just as she was going to check the missed calls, the phone rang again. This time, she took the call.

"Yo! Alice reporting!", said with her usual cheerful voice as she sat down again on the chair. "Who's this?"

"Who else?", answered the male on the other line, and Alice's eyes sparkled.

"Oh, Heavens! I can't believe it's you! If it wasn't for Aaron, you would have forgotten about me!", came her reprimand. Her bunny ears twitched in anger.

"...Lies.", came from the phone, hiding a nervous laugh.

"You weren't able to lie, mean dark swordsman!", she laughed too, moving the chair away from the control panel and putting her bare feet on it, making herself comfortable. "If I wasn't up here, I would say you died after beating up Polidori."

"For what type of person do you take me, Sunflower girl?"

Alice giggled. She felt happy to heard him say that name, after all, she was a distant descendant of the legendary sunflower and star tellers from the past.

"So, how's everything down there?"

"And you are telling me? Can't you spy me anymore, can you?"

"It's funny to spy you when you are doing naughty stuff~ .", came her reply and she could heard the faint gasp that Lucian made in the other line.

"What the fuck have you been up to, fucking pervert?"

Alice busted into loud laughs.

"Oh, you fell for it?!", she laughed again. "I can't believe it! How innocent are you, darling?"

"...I'm going to hang up..."

"No, no! But you can't deny me some fun after not talking with you for quiet a while."

"True."

"Besides, I'm not as perverted as you are with Aaron, though."

"...You had been watching?"

"Nope, Aaron talks with me, you know."

"I'm going to kill him.", she heard him sigh loudly, but couldn't tell where he was. Remembering she could spy on him, started to run a program on the control room. A black, floating window popped up in front of her as she typed a few things on the keyboard. "But can't blame him. After all, I talk a few things with Dumas and Nish..."

Alice giggled again.

"Talking about the Duke, he got more handsome!", said with a wide smile and blushed cheeks. "And his new mate it's very cute, too!"

"They hadn't mate yet, but I think that day will come soon seeing how clingy it's Dumas with him.", Lucian laughed softly. Alice giggled when, after putting everything the program asked her, could take a nice shot of the dark swordsman with the outdoor cameras of the satellite. What surprised her was that the man looked up, smiled and waved at her. "Hey!"

Alice laughed again.

"You got handsome, too. And Aaron it's quiet pretty.", she was trying to figure out where the hell Lucian was, since the Sunflower girl couldn't tell at first sight. "The Laplace it's almost done with the reparations, I still can't believe how you two fucked it up like you did."

"Well, if you have any chance in getting inside of one of Polidori's body, then you will know why."

"So, tell me, what's the problem?"

"You might know what has been happening with the north gunslingers, right?"

"Yes, you are pretty fucked up down there.", answered Alice. She watched as Lucian lay on the ground, putting an arm behind his back. The girl already knew he was a vampire know after seeing him fight in his full form a few days back in the forecourt.

"We will need your help up there. Nish suggested that we could use the satellite to see what will be Oyan's moves, where is he hiding, things like that."

"Oh, yes! Absolutely!", answered Alice, very happy to help her friends again after a long time.

"I want to ask... Do you know how it's Oyan's spy?"

"Physically? Yes, I know.", said the girl, opening another window, typing different things from the first one and let it search what she wanted. "I can't tell if it's a vampire, human or other creature, since he is always covered up."

"We only need his usual clothes and the rest it's story.", he heard the girl giggle again. "Does it seem familiar to you?"

The screen finally showed a zoomed image of Oyan and his spy walking around the Guild's forest.

"Not at all, not even the first time I saw him.", her ears twitched again and fall on her head. "Sorry to not help you with that."

"It's alright. Do you have a nice picture of him?"

"Yup! Plenty of them! I had anticipated some of your steps and I have saved a nice folder with several pictures of him, but none of them are without his mask, sadly.", she typed a few things in the keyboard and a transfer bar appeared on it. "I will send you the best I have. It's a picture of him in the full moon phase, looking up, so you will have a nice shot of his face."

When the transfer bar popped up a message box saying the transfer was completed, on the planet, Lucian heard that his pink phone, because Alice chooses the color sadly, made a beeping sound. Putting it in front of him and accepting the file, the image loaded on the screen and appeared seconds later. For the first time, Lucian could meet Oyan's spy.

"Mm..", hummed the dark swordsman, eyeing the clothed boy.

"Do you know him?"

"Not really, but he seems familiar, specially those big glasses.", in his mind, he told himself that if the boy was the one who thought of, couldn't be still alive after what happened. "Although I think they are not the same person.", he saved the image in the phone's hard drive and put it again against his ear. "Thanks for the picture, sweetie.", said before hanging up, smirking.

On the other side, Alice stared blankly at the screen where showed Lucian standing up and leaving. Her face was blushed and her ears couldn't register what the man said to her but after a few seconds. She smiled then, thinking how Aaron changed Lucian in the past four years.

Lucian jumped from the cliff to the ground, putting the phone inside the Casket Armor, between this and the tight suit that protected his skin, and left it there since he didn't have any pockets with that suit.

Now that he knew and had a picture of Oyan's spy, Ernest's tries in telling the other's how the kid was were useless as no one understood him, they could work better. But still were thinking how to help Alexander, who was still under the gunslinger's hands. It would be risky going straight into the Guild and start looking, since the weaponry they had was much better than the local gunslingers. They needed to wait for Bea's relatives, Kay's friends and the vampires and people that wanted the north gunslingers out of the East cities. It had passed now three days since they had walked around the cities saying and talking with different people and creatures about what was happening in the city. Surprisingly, most of them knew about it but were too afraid to do something. The family that Lucian saved long ago said they were going to help and were also going to talk with their relatives and friends, and have more allies for the imminent fight. After giving the details of the reunion in the ruined Dark Castle, Lucian left and went to talk with the Inn's owner, Marthin and his helper Maximilano. Both of them agreed with the vampire and, after he left, reunited several people that left after him in different directions. Seemed that most of East City wanted the north gunslingers out of their lands.

As good as it sounded; it also went wrong with some of the people they talked with. Nish and Perrault were badly insulted by some vampires that hated humans and wanted all of them out, and weren't going to help. Nish got really pissed off and ended up fighting with the ones that insulted him and Perrault, only to be stopped by two bigger vampires that kicked them out from the pub. He feared that those types of people would show up in the middle of the reunion and start insulting and doing other nasty stuff like fighting with those who wanted to the war between humans and vampires end for all. What would happen then? Who will protect those people? Nish had hopes that the same people will kick them out from the Dark Castle and block the entrance to them. The next families they talked to were kind, but didn't want to cooperate because they were afraid after what happened in the last war. Nish understood and told them, even so, that if they changed their mind or at last wanted to be informed on what's happening, they were free to go anytime or ask to anyone.

The three gunslingers went to talk with humans instead of with vampires, knowing they would suspect from them if they told them there was going to be a war between them and the vampires. Luckily, they found nice people that listened to them and agreed in helping kicking Oyan out from the city, but a few others rebelliously rejected the idea and started a fight with Ernest and Kay about how they weren't doing their work right and that the local gunslingers sucked too much. Kay was about to lose his temper with them when Ernest stopped him and said that if the sucked so much, then why he didn't list in the Guild to help it to be better. With it, they told to the ones that wanted to cooperate where the reunion would be, the time and day, and left.

The Terrennials had it easy. Toasty and Nero were pretty convincing with their words and found a nice group of vampires and humans that wanted to cooperate and help. They were four or five families in a single group, and more than one hundred of people. Nero eyed the vampires and whispered to Toasty that they were pretty strong. They taught them a big arsenal of weapons that could be used if needed, and Nero examined them all, one by one. The men of the families answered the Terrennial's entire questions about their kin and the weapons, while they answered the ones the kin asked them.

Now, three days later and with Lucian heading the leadership along with Dumas and Ernest, they were getting prepared to go to the Dark Castle and make clear all the rules about the important mission. He had to admit he was nervous about the whole thing. He had never done something this big, not even when he decided to fight besides Trinity against the tyranny of the Lord of Destruction. It was true the enemy was a lot stronger than them, but they weren't too much to deal with. This time, they were going to confront more than one thousand, according with Sheridan, and all of them wore thick armors, reflecting shields and nasty solar guns. He hoped that the armors that Bea's relatives had were enough for all the vampires that wanted to fight against them.

Lucian found funny the way Oyan acted; straight, uncaring, not thinking things too clearly. The man had lost many important and valuable gunslingers since he was promoted to leader of the north Guild, and even before when the old leader was in charge. Why sacrifice lives so lightly? Didn't he know that soldier that runs works for another war? As he saw the evening that Oyan decided to attack the mansion, he left with the healthy ones and left all the others behind, most of them had not so important wounds and could be saved and healed up if he wasn't so close of mind. He sometimes wondered who was the one that taught him that was the correct way to act before certain situations.

He grabbed the pink phone and put the image of the spy again on the screen, watching it silently, as trying to concentrate and focus his thoughts on the silhouette of the boy sitting on the ground, looking up to the dark sky. As Alice said, Lucian found it familiar, but couldn't remember to whom. Being all covered it was hard to figure it out, although his hair and big, round glasses were something he remembered from a vampire that long ago helped Ratatosk in his plan to get his hands on Vanargandr, as Trinity told him. He could ask Ernest or Dumas about the boy, since they knew better than him what happened before the war started. Yes, he was an active member of the Guild, but he always lacked information about the current situation and some details escaped from his hands and then it was too late. He had fixed that little mistake and now he tried to gather all the information he could.

Lucian returned to Sheridan's mansion and was surprised to see Carmilla there only.

"Good evening, Carmilla.", cheered the man when he stepped inside the mansion. The maid bowed at him lightly. "Where are the rest?"

The maid blinked in confusion.

"The only ones that are here its young Aaron and I only."

Lucian paled a bit.

"Fuck!", cursed as he rushed up stairs, followed by Carmilla.

They run towards the boy's room and opened it, finding no one there. When the men entered the mansion, he could feel only the girl's presence, meaning that everyone had already left to the castle. They all agreed in letting Aaron stay for his own safety even if the kid had complained about it. Lucian didn't want him to end up injured because of him, and the best way was to let him locked in a safe place. He knew it was wrong, that the boy hated being closed up for so many time, but couldn't risk losing him, like he did with Trinity and Ella. He knew, also, that was also a risk leaving him like that, but had to decide. And now, the kid wasn't in the mansion and the vampire thought, as he and Carmilla searched all over the place that Aaron might have gone to the castle to hear what they were going to talk about.

They failed to find it in the mansion. Lucian moved his little wings in a nervous way, as he tried to think where Aaron could be, besides the castle. He took the pink phone and phoned Ernest while eyeing the outdoor gardens of the mansion. When the men decided to pick up, he sighed heavily at the situation Aaron got himself in, but said he was going to patrol New Culiacan and the castle a bit before they all arrived to it. As he hung up, the vampire thanked Carmilla for her help and left the mansion, walking the gardens in search for his evasive mate.

After searching for about an hour, he finally found him talking with a strange young man, wearing dirty clothes and a black hat. Thinking Aaron could be in danger, Lucian jumped between them and growled at the stranger, making his wings grow to their full form as he showed his teeth and fangs to the other, who had jumped backwards at the feeling of a new presence.

"Easy.", said Dyango softly, not moving from his defensive position. His skin made lightly gosebumps and his hair lightly shot forwards. The intense energy of Lucian was too much for him, and frightened the young man a bit. "We were only talking."

"He helped me when we were in Acuna, after you drank my blood.", explained Aaron. "He wants to help us.", Lucian seemed to relax, but his wings kept protecting the boy. "His name it's Dyango, and it's a writer."

The young man took off his hat and bowed, smiling.

"Pleased to meet you.", said.

"....Dyango, you said?", whispered Lucian. The boy could tell he was shocked for some reason.

"Yes, but oh! It's too late now, and I have to leave!", exclaimed him, putting the hat on again. "Let's us meet again, Lucian."

Before the vampire could stop the young man, Dyango left the same way he did before, leaving Lucian and Aaron alone in the forest. The wings shrank and went to their minimum level, as the vampire turned around to hug the boy and kiss him softly.

"Just tell me where are you going, please.", he told the boy. "I know you are a powerful gunslinger now, that you can take care of yourself, but remember there are people that worry about you because there are other ones that wants you dead.", Lucian heard Aaron sigh and return the gesture, whimpering. "Sshh, don't cry, my child, it's all right."

"I can't stay back and see how you guys do all the work. I feel so useless...", answered the boy, hiding in Lucian's chest.

The vampire smiled, petting Aaron's head and hair.

"Want to come, then?", asked the man.

Aaron lifted his head and the vampire sighed, cleaning the tears that were leaving his pretty eyes with his fingers.

"Can I?"

"As long as you stay besides me or the others.", Aaron pouted but agreed, as he hid his face again on Lucian's chest. "Ah, my child...", sighed for a third time tne vampire. "What would I do without you?", said as he hugged the boy tighter. "I love you so much."

Aaron smiled and snuggled closer as he could.

"I do, too."

They kissed for a while and left the forest, hand in hand, towards the ruined Dark Castle. Even when they seemed they didn't have anything in their minds, Lucian was pretty confused. After seeing the young man, this Dyango, his energy gave a light jump, as if Dyango's energy and his resonated somehow. The vampire wanted to know why and why he looked so much like him... But he had more important things to do right now. He could leave that after the reunion in the castle.

Lucian had to transform into his full form due to the dangers in Acuna, the city they had to go through if they wanted to go to Dark Castle. The vampire carried his mate on his arms as he flew over the skies, finding quickly the two towers of it. From above, they could see a lot of people going inside the castle but what was surprisingly was the fact that no men of Oyan was near. Lucian landed next to the entrance and made his way through it, with Aaron still in arms, until he found Ernest and Nish in the center of the first hall from the castle.

"You found him, eh?", said the tanned man, ruffling the boy's hair. "Quiet the problem you are."

Aaron giggled.

"How things are going?", asked Lucian as he let his mate made it to the floor.

"Very well, nothing has happened yet.", answered Nish. "How it went with Alice?"

"She sent me a satellite image of Oyan's spy. Talking about him, where the hell are his men? I didn't see anyone when we were heading here."

Ernest shrugged.

"I don't know, but as long as he doesn't show up with a group to attack us, I'm fine."

"Shh! Don't call the disgrace!", said Nish, angry. "I will put some ice statues around the castle and in other principal spots to prevent him to come over here."

"I'm going to help you.", said Lucian. He turned to Aaron and kissed his forehead. "I will return soon. Don't get into troubles.", he smiled to him and left with Nish.

"You either.", answered the boy, leaving with Ernest.

Bea, Kay and Dumas were waiting for everyone to arrive and settle there. Aaron sat against the wall with the Terrennials around him, as he waited like the others. Half and hour later, Nish and Lucian returned, and two hours after, the doors of the castle closed. Dumas was surprised they could summon many humans and vampires that night. Just seeing with his eyes, the former Duke counted between two hundred and five hundred of people, but could be less than that. He eyed them all and stood in front of the group, narrowing his eyebrows. He stood firmly and said:

"I want to thank everyone who came tonight, due to the circumstances the East Cities are right now, seeing that anyone of you could easily been captured or killed under the gunslingers hands.", was the first thing the former Duke spoke. Nish, behind him, spotted some vampires that he had fought days before the reunion and, surprisingly, they were calm and paying attention. Had they considered it? "Some of you might have see me and my partners go from house to house, shop from shop, bar from bar saying that the north gunslingers were trying to break into out lands.", most of the crowd nodded. "Sadly, it's true. I also have to say that it was all because a little argument between some of my partners here present, and seeing how the situation it's out of our hand we ask for your help.", Dumas started to walk back and forth, seeing all of the faces, memorizing their facial expressions. "We thought, at first, the north gunslingers were trying to help but we noticed little by little that it wasn't their intention. Again, we are sorry for that. Although, some of us have been taken care of a few of them but according to a informant, the enemy has more reinforcement back in the North Lands, and he is slowly gaining followers here, too."

The former Duke walked to the wall and proceed to walk forwards into the crowd, meeting their eyes every now and then as he spoke.

"One of my partners, Bea the blonde woman,", said as he raised his arm towards said woman. "Has some relatives with potential weaponry we can use against the gunslingers, as well as armor for our defense. Kay, the canid over there, also has relatives that will help us with this.", Dumas stood in the other side of the room and proceed to walk back, but taking another route. "We also have the Terrennial's help, and two of the most powerful vampires I ever met.", said with a wide smile. "I think all of you might recognize our old fellow, Sartana…", raising his arm, he showed the multitude the purple haired man. "…now imbued with the same dark powers as I and many of you. The other one it's Nish, capable of doing amazing stuff with his ice powers.", he suddenly stopped. "Then, Ernest... The current leader of our local Guild has agreed to allow us to use the remaining members of the Guild that will soon face its disintegration. Perhaps one of the most valuable fellows from our group it's the boy that its sitting over there, with the Terrennials...", everyone turned their heads towards Aaron, and most of them gasped. The boy blushed in embarrassment. Luckily, for him, Dumas made himself the center of attention again. "Yes, the very son of the legendary warrior Trinity."

"This makes no sense!", one shouted. "Why will those, who once fought against vampires, will to cooperate with us to defeat the north gunslingers?"

"Because we have realized that vampires aren't monsters. They are like humans, just with different habits.", answered Ernest walking forwards. "Sadly, we came to that realization way too late.", he sighed. "Of course there will be humans and vampires that will still hate each other, but at last we do not want them in the East Cities.", several people gasped and murmured between them. "I have knowledge that in some past time, there have been cities, towns like that, and I think many of you wants it.", he crossed his arms on his chest as he watched Dumas come and go between the crowd. Most of the people were now sitting on the floor. "And, the Guild you all knew its lacking members now. The professionals are now old and have health problems or they are not in good condition to fight anymore. The rookies that works with us doesn't have any intention of learning. They are just there because of the wars between humans and vampires left them with nothing but themselves, and found a new home in our arms."

"So, sooner or later, the Guild would have died.", finished Dumas, still walking.

"How exactly this happened?", asked a woman near the end of the crowd.

Ernest opened his mouth but, surprisingly, Aaron stood up and was the one who answered to that question.

"My mate, Lucian or Sartana, how you want to call him, was a few weeks ago transforming into a vampire.", said the young boy. Everyone could see he was nervous. "After the war eleven years ago, after he and my father fought against Dumas, he was gifted with the Dark powers of the Dark Terrennial Nero. Thanks to them, he had to renounce to a part of his humanity to be able to gain said powers. He used an amulet for the past four years to prevent this energy to take over his body and transform him into a vampire right away. After fighting with Dumas, he went to train and maximum his weapons, but had to take the eyepatch off to be able to use them, since only the dark powers were capable enough to control them. With this, he was slowly transforming into a vampire.", he laid on the wall, but didn't dare to face the crowd, that was listening to each word. "Ernest, who has been like a second father in my life, and Toasty, the Light Terrennial, were worried and most of all, scared about the idea of Lucian becoming, at last, a vampire."

Toasty, who was sitting on Aaron's right shoulder, closed his eyes before opening them again and feeling angry with himself after all he had done to come to the realization that his fear and worry were for nothing.

"Ernest was the one that had talked with Oyan, the north's Guild leader, and ask for his help since I have run away with my actual mate, since I feared that he and Toasty would make any harm against my mate, me or us.", he sighed again. "He only did it because he feared I would turn into a vampire and, as his duty as gunslinger, would start doubting about what is right and what is wrong, but soon he understood that if killing a human was wrong, killing a vampire was too.", finally, he decided to look up to the crowd, and found that most of the ones there understood him. "Most of the people here in the East cities are fond of the vampires as some vampires are fond of them and us, most I, would love to see the utopia that Dumas and the Immortals once foresee four years ago."

"Then, are you willing to renounce to your father's legacy as a gunslinger?", asked the same woman.

"Yes.", answered the boy, making eye contact with the woman.

"And what about your humanity?", asked a vampire near her. Nish recognized it as one of the ones he fought. "You said you mated your partner and that he is a vampire, but even if you are marked it doesn't mean you will live forever.", he made a wide grin, as wanting to catch the young boy in some trap to make all the plan fall. "What will you do?"

"Well, what do you think I will do?", came Aaron's angry response. "Of course I'm willing to renounce to my humanity if that means staying with him! What kind of question was that?"

Everyone was taken back with that response, especially Lucian, Ernest and Dumas, who were watching the boy with their eyes wide open. Upon that answer, most of the ones reunited seemed to gain trust in Aaron and the rest. Questions and answers went from here to there, from the weapons of the enemy, to what they would do if they win the fight. Most of them wanted to let humans and vampires leave the city if they didn't want to share it with the other, which seemed fair, but would also bring problems if said families didn't want to leave. They would reunite again, this time with everyone and with everything they got, and would trace a plan to attack Oyan and the north gunslingers, using Alice's help from the outer space.

A few hours later, all left in small groups. Dumas sat besides Nish, who was taking a break after talking for more than three hours straight, and snuggled with him, feeling suddenly tired. Bea and Ernest were talking with other members of the Guild that were patrolling New Culiacan and seeing if Oyan was there. If that was the case, then they will need to stay in the ruined castle or get the hell out of there as fast as possible.

Aaron was quietly sitting on the floor, petting Perrault's head softly, and thinking. He said he would give up his humanity in order to stay with Lucian, but didn't know if he was ready to do it within the next weeks, or days. He was sure, but not completely. Touching the right side of his neck, he asked himself if he could wait a few years before letting his mate transform him but if he did so, would he lose his memories as a normal human would do? He couldn't bear the idea of not remembering Ernest, Bea, Kay and everything he did when he was with the Dark swordsman, four years ago. He treasured those memories and didn't want to lose them. But now was more worried about the upcoming fight. All of his friends were going to fight, except him, who was more likely going to stay at the Guild's hideout or at Sheridan's mansion or a safe place for him and wait until the fight was over, and couldn't do anything about it.

The trip back to Sheridan's mansion was quiet. It was near morning and Nish was starting to complain about it, but no one was hearing him at all. Everyone was tired and wanted a nice sleep, and perhaps worried or excited at the idea of having followers that shared their help with them. There was so much to do and so little time… Lucian agreed, for that day only, to stay up and talk with Alice, watching Oyan's moves while the others rested. It was going to be hard, because the only one there to actually talk about something interesting was Nish, but he was going to sleep. Aaron was too tired to stay up and Dumas refused completely to stay up talking with that crazy pink haired bunny, as he often called Alice. Seeing his own fate, Lucian kissed Aaron's forehead in a good night kiss when the boy went upstairs with the two vampires once they reached the mansion, while he sighed and sat on the couch in the living room, trying to think a way to stay up at last until noon. Ernest told him he could replace him once he had slept a few hours. He hoped that the Guild's leader keep his word. Lucian wanted so bad to curl up beside Aaron…

"Coffee?", said Sheridan with a mug on his left hand. Lucian lazily lifted his head and smiled. "I guessed you wanted one."

"Thank you.", answered, taking the white mug from the professor's hand. "I hope it helps me to stay awake. Caffeine, sometimes, doesn't affect me."

Sheridan laughed softly as he sat besides the vampire, with his own mug of coffee.

"I know what you are talking about.", he took a sip from his drink. Both of them saw Nero and Perrault flying upstairs, while Toasty chose a blue flowerpot to rest for a few hours. "Does he always do that?"

"What? Sleep in a flowerpot? Yes, always.", took a sip then, drank a bit more. "Funny, right?", he laughed when Sheridan nodded his head.

"I might help with the armors that Bea's relatives will bring tomorrow.", said the man, taking another sip of his coffee. "Upgrading them in chain with my alchemy will be a piece of cake."

"How strong will be them after that?"

Sheridan shrugged.

"It will depend on the basic level of those armors. If the level it's a good one and they aren't too much used, then I think they will be as good as the Casket Armors."

Lucian opened his eyes in surprise and smiled.

"Good to know that.", he crossed his legs on the couch and rested his back on it, looking at the ceiling again.

They sat in silence, drinking their coffee quietly. It was going to be a very cold day despise there was no dark cloud on the sky and no wind was blowing, at last not for now. The Sun was lazily rising, licking the ground under its yellowish light and warmth. Most monsters were already heading to a dark place where to rest for the day until the night, far away from possible gunslinger and other hunters.

Lucian fells asleep on the couch, the mug between his hands. The remaining coffee got cold as he slept. Sheridan took it and placed it and his own one on a small table near the couch. Carmilla appeared in the room with a thick blanket that placed on the sleeping vampire. She smiled softly at him when the man curled under it as he quietly sleeps. Sheridan noticed it and looked at the girl.

"Do you know him?", Carmilla knew the professor wasn't referring to when the man came for the first time to the mansion looking for advice in how to upgrade his terrible dark sword.

Carmilla looked nervous. She gripped her hands together over her lap. She sat on a chair, near the small table where the mugs laid, as the girl looked at Lucian and Sheridan.

"…Yes.", she answered shyly.

Sheridan hummed, interested. It was the first time that Carmilla admitted she remembered something of her human past to him. Both of them knew the vampire was in deep sleep to actually hear what they were talking, so they didn't bother going to another room to talk about the subject.

"I still can't remember my name.", started the girl, placing her hands on her lap, playing with her apron. "But I remember a building, probably the local Guild, in where many faces walked from here to there.", she looked at Lucian and then to Sheridan. "I believe I was a member of it because most of them saluted me, some girls stops me and talks to me about stuff I don't know. Sometimes, I can see their mouth move, but no words come from them.", Carmilla looked away, placing her sight on several photos of Sheridan's inventions when he was still in the Vambery. She remembered them all, especially Stoker's Casket Armor. "I was a volunteer in the Guild, helping those who lost their homes because of the fights against the vampires, giving them food, clothes…", she smiled sadly. "He was there, always with me, helping me in everything.", she laughed as she looked at Lucian. "He was kind of shy with me and was clumsier the usual, giving the wrong things to the wrong people, saying nonsense's…"

"So you actually meet Lucian when he was still human and Trinity's partner…", it wasn't a question, but rather an affirmation. Carmilla nodded.

"Yes, and even when I was human I could feel that I already knew him from another time, but couldn't remember. Much like now…", Sheridan smiled softly. It was good that Carmilla was feeling this. It was nice that, after so many years, the girl was finally taking the memories that they were taken from her, but couldn't know how she was getting them back. "I also knew that I was falling for him, but we where too shy to admit it even thought everyone knew we were deeply in love."

"After Dumas took you to the Vambery, don't you remember anything else?", Carmilla shook her head. "Then it seems that your memories are slowly rising from the darkness every time he comes here."

"Seems so.", said the girl.

"Do you want to retrieve them?"

"…Not really."

Sheridan was surprised to hear that.

"Why?"

"As Lucian made his life after everyone and everything crumbled, I have to follow his example and keep living my current life and not dig into the past, not complain about what I had and I don't have anymore.", explained the girl, smiling. "I have a wonderful person besides me that I love as he was my very father or my very brother, and a girl that I love in more ways I would ever do with anyone else.", the last sentence made her blush. "She is what Aaron is to Lucian, and we should keep it that way because both of us have forgotten the past long ago…"

"Well, it's your choice after all. I might have created you, but I'm not a God to tell you what you should or shouldn't do.", he stood up and Carmilla followed him outside the room. "Thought I didn't know that Laura have charmed you so much.", added with a mischief smirk.

Carmilla's eyes widen as she blushed deeply.


	17. Chapter 17

**Fixed some mistakes, Re-Upload.**

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17

Two days after the reunion in the Dark Castle, of which Oyan didn't know, the north gunslingers started to trace up a plan against the vampires that were already preparing themselves to fight against them. They were bringing weapons and armors from their native lands, taking extremely care in them. Their paths were guarded by experimented gunslingers capable of staying hours awake using the drugs that the spy gave to them. Said spy was trying to find the young gunslinger but all his efforts where in vain. Nidhoggr wasn't able to find it yet because the child's scent suddenly vanished from the air and his first ability, as a vampire, was to track his preys with the sense of smell. He didn't think that other vampires could actually make it disappear since it was too difficult, even for them. He thought that someone was helping them, but couldn't think of anyone who could erase scents like that.

On the other hand was the prisoner. Nidhoggr was exhausted. He tried every damn drug on him and nothing worked; all of them made the prisoner feel dizzy, stupid or made them go to sleep, something that made Nidhoggr angry. He couldn't understand the man at all. How he could be so calm, so carefree? He was at the enemy's hands being tortured, injected with who knows what kind of drugs and yet, the prisoner was all but terrified. Oyan had injured him badly several times and has said he was going to cut off his hand or arm if he didn't answer his question but, to his and the other's surprise, he didn't care at all. Oyan, pissed at him, kicked the prisoner's face and left. Now, it was no different. He was still silent and quiet as a graveyard.

"Frustrated, aren't we?", said Alexander with a small smirk on his face.

That evening Oyan told Nidhoggr to go downstairs and see if he could do one last thing to retrieve the precious information the prisoner had within him. The spy had tried his last resorts and now the prisoner was mocking him.

"Yes, and very much.", answered the vampire, sighing in defeat. "I'm amazed at your high resistance to my drugs.", continued as he sat on a old, wooden chair. "My guess is that you aren't human at all, but aren't vampire either."

"Oh, how smart you are!", said Alexander, laughing under his voice, something that irritated Nidhoggr even more. "Even a child will know I'm not human or vampire."

"Don't make me hit you."

"Like I would care about that, after all you did to me.", the naked Terrennial laid on the cold floor, still tied up. "What are you going to do now?"

"I'm thinking."

Nidhoggr's patient was reaching its limit. One more comment and he was surely going to kill the prisoner. But Oyan then would be angry at him and probably end beaten up seriously, and he didn't want that. The vampire sighed.

"It's quiet strange to see a vampire under the orders of a human.", continued Alexander.

For the first time, Nidhoggr pulled down his face mask and smiled at Alexander, who could see his pair of shiny, white fangs. The vampire fixed up his glasses as he quietly sat on the chair, knowing that no one and nothing could hear him say this:

"Because he doesn't know I am a vampire, simple as that.", he answered. "I'm always covered up and often I use make up to hide my blue skin under these clothes.", added as he touched the fabric of his suit. "Unless someone tears up my clothes or removes my mask, Oyan will never tell I'm a vampire.", he laughed softly. "Besides, he will not believe you if you go and tell him that."

"Oh, I'm sure of it.", added Alexander with a wide smirk.

Both of them heard footsteps and one of the north gunslinger came into view. He arched his eyebrows at the weird scene but didn't ask anything, thinking the spy was interviewing the prisoner again for a hope of retrieving the information they needed.

"We found the machine.", simple said.

"Really?", Nidhoggr stood up and covered himself. Good thing the basement was pretty dark for the human to see his true identity. "Where it was?"

"Not so far from New Culiacan, buried. It needs some handiwork, but I think we will be able to---"

"No, no, no!", shouted the vampire. "I'm the only one that's going to touch and fix that machine, because I'm the one that knows how it works and all that, got it?", he fixed his glasses again, narrowing his eyebrows. "And if Oyan doesn't like it, tell him to fuck off."

Alexander chuckled softly.

"Don't laugh, dear friend.", said Nidhoggr. "The dark Swordsman, the Duke and his partner are going to be in deep shit after I fix that machine."

"….What machine?", Alexander was starting to panic and the spy noticed it, too.

"The Machine King of the Great Dragon of Earth, Nidhoggr.", answered seeing how the color of Alexander's skin left as he turned round and left with the gunslinger.

Alone in the dark and cold basement, the wind Terrennial bit his bottom lip. If the spy was referring to that machine, then Lucian and the other are going to be in a deep problem. And he couldn't do anything about it. Or so he thought, as an interesting idea went through his mind.

The Sun was still trying to bright with its light, but being almost covered up with the mountains wasn't helping it at all. A few pink, yellow and orange clouds were dancing on the sky. Near New Culiacan, more specific, under the dungeons of the ruined castle, there were many gunslingers working on a buried green and oxidized machine. When Nidhoggr arrived with Oyan, he smiled under his mask, feeling excited about the digging. The last time he had saw that thing was a few decades ago and now, being able to get his hands on it again, made him feel especial. He walked down in the pit and started to watch the huge machine already knowing where and how he had to fix it. It was going to be easy thanks to his brilliant brain and knowledge of alchemy, thing he learned after watching from safe places Stoker's and Sheridan's works at the Vambery and, of course, doing his own personal experience with it.

Besides, his dark powers were enough to fix this machine. After all, it was composed with Dark Matter and other vampire stuff of which Oyan and the others didn't know about. It was a good thing that they didn't know about his vampiric condition and didn't know anything about the prototype of Casket Armor that Stoker based off his own. If they did, then they would suspect about his information and, perhaps, find out he was a vampire. But since everything was going out good, Nidhoggr was happy to see all those humans unburying his old fighting friend. He just hoped the cannons worked still. They were a pain in the ass to fix and he didn't have enough patient for them right now.

"What do you know about this thing?", asked Oyan as he managed to catch the spy's speed.

"It was built decades ago by some Dark Tribe.", answered quietly. "We don't need help from the dark powers from vampires because, after all this time, the dark energy within this machine has died.", he petted the dirty surface and turned to Oyan. "With this, vampires are going to be in serious problems."

"How long it will take you to fix it?"

"To the original, probably months, but since it's for only a war, I think I could work on it several days and have it ready for the next four days."

Oyan arched his eyebrows, amazed. He smiled slyly.

"How in hell are you going to do it? It's humanly impossible for you to do it, especially at such young age like you."

"Shhh, Oyan.", said Nidhoggr, feeling a faint energy coming from the machine, as if the object recognized it's one and sole master. "Sometimes humans do the impossible before situations like this.", without the gunslinger noticing, the vampire put a blood circle on the surface of the machine that faded soon after he finished.

"How it went with the prisoner?", asked instead. If the spy knew how to work on the machine, Oyan didn't mind the rest. It was going to be their card under their sleeve if the vampires managed to reduce his army drastically.

Nidhoggr sighed angrily.

"Nothing. He is pissing me off with that attitude, but there is nothing more I can do right now."

"Damn it…", cursed Oyan. They heard some loud noises and both of them turned around. One group could unbury the head of the machine that resembled to a dragon. The two light bulbs that once were the eyes of it were completely gone, and the vampire knew he was going to have a lot of hard work. Good thing was that Oyan might give him some gunslingers to work on his old machine. "Seems that they are going to take it out in less time we had foreseen."

"I can't wait…", mumbled the vampire under his mask watching how the big jaw of the machine opened lightly. "I can't wait…"

They had to pick up each part individually. It was too large and too big to be carried in a single piece. Nidhoggr didn't mind since he knew how to assemble each piece. The problem was that the local Guild building wasn't big enough to put such huge piece of metal, so they resolved it by putting each part of the machine on the field behind the building, which was big enough to put all of it. Besides, the vampire could cover the whole thing up with his alchemy and no one could possibly know what he was doing inside. The only thing they will see will be the huge, black orb surrounding his work space. The more he thought about it, the more he grew excited about it.

In truth, he had forgotten about it for a few years. He had discovered it five years before working under the orders of the north gunslinger, but since at that time didn't know anything of alchemy he couldn't dig out his machine and doing it by himself would take more than five years. He remembered the times he had used it against the Solar Child that tried to save Sabata from Ratatosk's hands. The puppeteer had put all his trust on him due that the Count and Hresvelgr failed at killing him. After fighting with Sabata, the boy ended up so injured that almost died after being purified. Ratatosk took advantage of this and left it to The Beast of Destruction's will, since it needed his blood to revive. Instead of just taking his blood, it also started to take over Sabata's body to make its power grow to higher levels and be almost invincible. Just after that, they managed to trap the Solar Child and put it inside the Sealed Prison, where he was left to die alone. Nidhoggr smiled. Maybe he could go there and put some withered flowers on his tomb. He was sure the Solar Child would appreciate it.

The last piece was put on the ground along with the others. The vampire made some strange circles on all the perimeter of the field and after putting a small blood drop from his own, all circles began to work. They raised thick, black energy walls that engulfed the entire field. Now, he could work alone and in peace. Oyan made his man leave the field and stayed to talk with Nidhoggr about the machine and the things he needed to repair it.

"First I need to see what's missing.", answered the vampire as he started to open up the machine, part by part. "I will do a list and give it to you so then you can go and find all the materials I need."

"How long it will take you?"

Nidhoggr shrugged.

"Between six to eight hours, I think."

"So, tomorrow morning you should be finished.", the vampire nodded. "Alright. I will give you some pen and paper. If you need anything else, just call me."

The vampire saw the leader walk off as he left him to do his work. Nidhoggr opened the first wire panel and sighed angrily. All the wires were bitten and oxidized, the screws, buttons and all that was completely unused. He feared that he would have to rebuild from zero, and that was going to take more than four days. It would probably take almost a full week, if not two. He took the panel and threw it on the air, not really caring about it right now. He could restore it after he had fixed all the internal composition with the alchemy. Opening a second panel not so far from the first, he managed to step inside the machine. It was the part where it had the first pack of cannons, all of them completely gone or too destroyed to be used again. Another problem on the list, thought Nidhoggr as he walked inside. The machine was originally built for diving and swimming in the sea, thus not having wheels or legs to walk on solid ground but since the war that was coming is going to be on solid ground, he thought it would be better if the machine could crawl on it like a snake or close. That mechanism would take a few hours, at last a day to do it. A third thing to add in the list.

Around three in the morning, Nidhoggr could hear some wing's flap in the silence of the night. Curious, he stopped his work on the head of the machine and jumped on the ground. Since no one has come to visit him for the last three hours, the vampire took off some of his clothes to work more freely. It was a high risk, but he hated having too much clothing while having his hands on wires, metal and such things.

He heard those wings again and walked to the center of the field, looking up. Even though it was pure black, from the inside of the field he was able to see the outside while the ones on the other side couldn't see what was happening inside the black barrier. Nidhoggr saw a black figure fly pass above the barrier, like if it was examining it. The figure had four visible wings and a long and dangerous spiked tail. Growing more and more curious, the vampire used his alchemy to create an earth elevator, slowly getting closer to the barrier and that weird figure. He could hear again the flap of its wings, flying in circles over the barrier, not knowing what to do.

Suddenly, the figure landed and Nidhoggr jumped in surprise as he saw the tall figure walking on the barrier. It walked on it, from here to there, caressing it with its long tail, knocking on it with the spikes of its tail. It was trying to get in! Nidhoggr panicked. He didn't know who was the enemy and didn't know its power, he was defendless until it broke the barrier, but if was one of the allies from the Dark Swordsman, he was going to be in serious problems if the enemy managed to, at last, have a peek on the machine. Desperately, the vampire made a bubble with his alchemy. Whispering some words in it, he let the bubble fly quickly inside the Guild. He hoped that it reached Oyan soon.

He heard a soft growl coming from the outside as well some more knocking, this time harder than before. Nidhoggr translated himself with the earth elevator under the black figure, who was using its own powers to break the barrier. The most terrifying fact was that the enemy was succeeding at it. If Oyan didn't present himself in the next five minutes, the enemy was going to easily get in and alert the other that they were trying to repair the old dragon machine.

"…it's leaving?", whispered Nidhoggr to himself in a very, very low voice. The figure, maybe tired of trying to open the barrier, opened its wings and flew away, making the vampire sigh in relief.

Just minutes after, Oyan came with some of his men, all of them with guns and weapons to attack the enemy. Nidhoggr thanked to be at such high height, he wouldn't know what to do, then. He explained what happened and the leader ordered that two to four groups started to patrol all the perimeter of the Guild, as well as the roof of the building to protect the area of the vampire. Nidhoggr knew it was related to Lucian's group, but didn't know of anyone, except the Duke, that had wings. Could it be that he managed to find allies, and one of them was ordered to come here and see what they were doing? It could be. If Oyan had him, why the others couldn't have their own spy between the gunslingers? Nidhoggr knew Oyan needed to put more and more security around the building if he didn't want anyone or anything coming in or out, especially the prisoner.

No one came in the rest of the night so, when the first sun's ray came above the mountains, Nidhoggr had already finished reviewing all the machine, knew what was missing and what he needed to replace those missing things. He was tired, hard to admit, but still with energies to keep working. Thanks to the drugs he developed while he lived in the north, he could go for all the time necessary he needed to complete his duty. But to what he wasn't ready for was for the particularly visit of the prisoner, around noon, completely dressed up in some of the gunslinger's clothes and with his wrists tied up. Nidhoggr stopped his actions and looked at him, surprised, as the prisoner walked around the huge machine, watching it and, perhaps, thinking about it.

"How the fuck did you manage to leave the basement?", asked the vampire to Alexander, who smiled.

"I had 'renounced to my principles and, after I saw all the evil the vampires are doing to this planet, allowed Oyan to make me a better man.'", answered.

Nidhoggr busted into loud laughs.

"He believed that?", Alexander nodded. "Gods, he is so naïve!"

"Oh, more than I thought.", said as he got closer to the vampire.

"So…", said Nidhoggr, playing with a wrench. "Now you are the new spy within this Guild?"

"You could say.", Alexander petted the rough surface of the oxidized machine.

"What if I go and tell him you haven't renounced to your principles? That, instead, you are just playing with him?"

"I don't care what you tell him. After you stopped giving me those nasty drugs, I feel more fresh and, believe me, for your own safe and the others, it's better to just shut up.", warned the wind Terrennial. "I'm probably stronger that those gunslingers together, and perhaps even than you."

Nidhoggr glared at him, but didn't say anything. He turned around, focusing into his machine.

"Oh, you know I'm right, but you don't want to admit it. Because you haven't seen me fight and don't know my name or who I am at all, you prefer not risk your life."

"True.", answered the vampire under his breath. "And what are you going to do about it? Oyan will not let you go outside the Guild for a while. You are as helpless as me."

Alexander laughed softly.

"So true, so true… But, I have my ways to leak information from this place, as you have yours to retrieve it."

Nidhoggr growled, eyeing the man with such fury that the Terrennial could feel it in the air.

"Well, I have better things to do now.", said Alexander, turning around and leaving. "I will leave you to work alone and in peace."

"You better!!", screamed the vampire, shaking the wrench in his left hand. "Heavens, I hate him so much!!", said as he kicked the machine.

Knowing that the stupid Oyan trusted the prisoner's words was the worst thing that could happen to Nidhoggr. Between this and the strange visit from last night, he knew that something was going to end up screwed. He knew very well that some information it's going to leak as he has his own recourses to do it and needed a way to stop that leaking. If Lucian and the others knew about his machine, then Oyan and his men are going to be in deep problems, and very big ones. At last, the prisoner was going to be held captive within the Guild and there was not much he could do. Besides, now working for Oyan, it was needed a name. Nidhoggr hoped that the prisoner had revealed his true name, instead of giving a fake one, but there were more possibilities of him drowning that giving it out. The vampire laughed softly as he continued to work. This twist in the situation was going to be very interesting.

Alexander returned to the building after talking with the spy, of which's name he didn't know yet. It was fun to see that he or the other didn't know each other's name, which was good, in a way. The Terrennial needed to keep up this fake betraying towards the others in order to inform them about the gunslingers, but he didn't know if he could go out and fight against Lucian and Aaron without notifying them first. The advantage he had was that he could call any owl or bird to make them deliver his message to them, which was easy. The hardest part was going to surpass the spy's barrier. He was going to do anything at his hand to prevent that message from escaping the Guild. And if it did, he was going to chase it until having his hands on it.

The Terrennial reunited in Oyan's office, to where he was heading after leaving the field, and found him resting on a chair with other two men. Alexander thought that they must be Oyan's closest members inside his Guild and the ones he trusted more. The three of them turned around to watch him walk inside and close the door with his left foot.

"It's amazing you didn't get lost out there.", said the one on Oyan's left. "I assume it isn't your first time inside the Guild."

"You assumed right.", answered Alexander. The man was the same height as Oyan, but with tanner skin, dark eyes and short, brown hair. He was wearing the same outfit as everyone in the Guild but had a bullet belt around his waist with a silver revolver in its case. The Terrennial supposed the bullets were made of pure silver; a useful element towards werewolves, which were as many as vampires were, though not on the East lands. Werewolves are seen most on the North and West lands.

"How do you know it, then?", the man took out his revolver and started playing with the roulette.

"I used to come here in the past.", like when the spy and Oyan wanted to retrieve the information, he was giving short answers, only giving out the necessary information. "After all, my… companions were the ones living and working here."

Oyan smiled. It seemed he started liking Alexander more and more for an obvious reason that the Terrennial didn't know yet. He was still surprised when the man came and started relating things that happened in the North lands and things he already knew that happened in the last war. After arguing with him and admitting that Oyan was right, just because he thought he could use the new position as a gunslinger to his advantage, Alexander said he would help him in the war after realizing he was wrong and faking some psychic upheaval on finding out the 'truth'. He almost died laughing when Oyan accepted it. How naïve the man could be? But, on the other hand, Alexander also took in mind it could be another way to retrieve the information. From now, he needed to be extremely careful with his words. Could it be the reason for why Oyan smiled when he answered? He didn't want to know.

"Oh, I see, I see…", said the man, stopping the roulette. He put the revolver in his left hand and started playing with it again. The noise was starting to get annoying in the Terrennial's ears. "Oyan said you are a fierce warrior, is that true?"

"I would say yes, but it's up to you to believe it or not."

The other one, who was shorter, a bit over weighted and with dyed green hair, laughed between his yellow teeth. The man seemed to love smoking, drink coffee and not brush his teeth.

"In the North Guild, I'm the best in hand on hand combats. I'm the best with the sword!", he laughed again. "Not even that oh so called Dark Swordsman might even lay a cut on me!", the Terrennial tried hard to suppress his laugh. Was that man crazy? He hadn't meet swordsman better than Lucian. "If you call yourself a warrior and if you really want to help us and be a part in the Guild, you must first beat Marclar and me in a battle of the best."

Alexander grinned. He loved duels and fights. His hands twitched already in excitement.

"Weapons?", asked the Terrennial.

"Any type of gun.", said Marclar, putting the revolver inside the case again, much to Alexander's relief. The sound was starting to piss him off.

"Any type of sword.", said the fat one. Just then, Alexander noticed a black katana hanging from the man's waist.

"Rules?", the Terrennial eyed Oyan, who smirked.

"All is allowed. If you want to cheat, then do it.", answered the red-haired man. "After all, each fight will be like if you guys were fighting in a war, where everything it's possible."

"Everything?", repeated Alexander. "What if I 'accidentally' kill one of my opponents?"

Marclar laughed loudly.

"That will not happen because before you give the final hit all the other gunslingers will stop you, if not kill you if they need to."

Oh, kill as many gunslingers as he could in less than a minute? Alexander licked his lips. He was starting to like this place, and like it a lot.

"When do we start?", asked, excitedly.

"Patience, patience.", mumbled Oyan. "We have to look up a nice place for the show, because Spy it's using the field---"

"We can move the machine.", said Alexander immediately, cutting Oyan's sentence. "If he is as good as Sheridan in alchemy, creating a shield to protect that thing would be a piece of cake to him."

Marclar and the fat one, Recher, looked at their leader, who thought about it. After a few instants in silence, he smiled. Nodding, he told Alexander to leave.

"Wait, brat.", said Recher. The Terrennial turned around as his fingers twitched. He was far older than those arrogant and stupid men. He deserved more respect! "What's your name?"

"Alexis.", he smiled and turned again, leaving the office by opening and closing the door behind him.

The next day, around three in the afternoon, the field was settled for the upcoming fight between Alexander, Marclar and Recher. The machine was moved to the edge of the dark barrier and protected by Nidhoggr's alchemy. He was also there, sitting on an earth column to see the fight without him ending up injured by their attacks, as most of the gunslingers will get if they stayed too close from the field. There were two wooden walls with different types of swords and guns, and Marclar was already viewing the guns while Oyan and the other two needed to arrive to the field.

Most of the members were excited at the fight. The rookies and new members didn't know why they were going to fight or what for, but one thing was sure; they wanted to see how strong Oyan's strongest men were. All of them made their bets, even Nidhoggr, on who will win each match. Most of the gunslinger voted for Marclar or Recher, but some rookies voted for the new warrior, Alexis. After waiting almost half an hour, Oyan arrived with Alexander who was not tied up anymore. Recher was walking at Oyan's right, while the Terrennial eyed everyone on the field. The leader, additionally, brought three metal gauntlets for each participant. Alexander took a dark one, while the other two chose their favorite one.

Marclar already picked up his gun; it was another revolver that used solar energy instead of silver bullets that the one on his waist. Alexander thought if he was going to use it once the energy from it reached zero. The bullets were hard to make since on the north silver isn't as abundant as in the south. He would probably save it for real combats and werewolves. Recher stuck with his katana. He rejected Oyan's suggestions of using another type of sword to fight against the Terrennial. This made Alexander thinks that the man wasn't as good as he said with other swords. Otherwise, he would just picked up a sword and go to the field and fight. Even though that, the Terrennial was confident he was far stronger and have more experience with katanas than the fat guy. He had used his own for more than a century. Just to mock him, he chose another katana, slimmer and longer than Recher's one. As he thought, this action made the man lightly angry but made Marclar laugh as he waited at Oyan's left for his turn to fight.

The battlefield was a thirty-two feet square. The rest of the members were all around the field, most of them fighting with each other to try to get a nice place from where to see the fight between those men. Alexander took the katana firmly into his left hand. It was a shame they had taken his to who knows where. If he had his own weapon, he would easily beat the fat guy's ass without problem. He sighed knowing that, for the moment, couldn't do anything for it.

"Are you sure you want to use a katana like me?", asked Recher taking his own into his right hand.

"I'm positive.", answered Alexander. The only thing they allowed to keep using was the make up on his eyes. Most men didn't approve it and whispered nasty things under their breaths or behind Alexander's back each time they saw him. "I'm surprised that you haven't chosen a different sword from yours."

"Why would I? It's my weapon of choice. I grew up with this baby and will die with it."

The Terrennial felt that urge to start the fight already. He was trembling in excitement. Usually, he was a very calm and quiet person but when fights and combats are in, he couldn't suppress his instinctive nature; a natural killer. Oyan will need more than one hundred men to stop his assassination if he gets too excited in the fight. Alexander, as seeing he was starting to grow impatient, started to take deep breaths, trying to calm down.

"I can't believe he is already trembling!", he heard one say.

"Yeah! I bet he is too scared to move now! He looks cocky, but he is in deep shit with Recher."

The Terrennial growled. Oh, they were going to have a nice surprise once the battle starts.

Oyan gave the signal and the fight started.

Recher launched right after Alexander but the man dodged him quiet easily. The Terrennial's body was light and slim, much like every bird on the planet, and could move with such freedom that made most gunslingers gasp at his graceful movements. Recher was already getting pissed as Alexander noticed. Having your emotions rule your body was a fatal mistake.

"What?! Playing tag already, you shitty girl?!", shouted Recher when Alexander dodged, once again, one of his attacks. The crowd laughed aloud at the insult, but Oyan and Nidhoggr were silent, watching the fight carefully. "Why do you wear make up, anyway? Do you think you will attract a man like that, eh?!", said as he lifted his sword and slashed it.

Much to his and everyone surprise, Alexander took the blade into his right hand, the one with the gauntlet, and broke it effortlessly. He was pissed, very pissed off. Taking advantage of Recher's confusion and surprise, the Terrennial launched at him and kicked him to the ground, putting the tip of his blade over his eyes. The warrior's eyes were shining in such rage that Recher feared that Alexander would actually kill him if he say anything else related to his make up.

"And what if I like men?", said the Terrennial, playing with the tip of the blade on Recher's cheeks. "There is no more beautiful thing on this planet that love. And being able to feel it towards any gender it's amazing. Sadly, the ones like you can't understand that.", he made a small cut on his left cheek. "Maybe Oyan or the spy can answer your doubt about why I wear make up.", Oyan smiled as he remembered the first time he talked with him down in the basement. Feeling a sudden urge, Alexander's eye shone on a bright red as he buried the sword deeply in the ground, inches away from Recher's neck. "Now, go and pick another sword and finish this fight with me if you don't want to be killed.", ordered in a very deep voice causing the man to shiver. Most members in the crowd shivered too, scared of that new appearance of Alexander.

But Recher managed to smile, even if he was too scared to move.

"You can't kill me, or have you forgot Marclar's words from yesterday?", he gasped when the warrior put the sword perpendicular to his neck, even if it was half buried in the ground.

"Do you think I care about that? Oyan will need more than thousand men to get me."

"Then why have you been captured, eh?", Recher was going to far and he didn't know. Oyan was feeling the tension and Nidhoggr was as happy as ever with the prisoner.

"That time, I sacrificed myself so my companions could freely escape.", the edge of the blade touched Recher's neck, but no one moved to save him or shouted or said anything. "Even though now I'm one of Oyan's Guild, I will not renounce to my principles of warrior and I will never leave behind a man from my own pack.", he looked around. "If they want to come and save you or try to hit me for threaten you, then they are free to do so.", he grinned and licked his lips. "Thought they are going to end up either killed or dismembered, I don't know which is worst.", he pressed the blade down on Recher's neck, who gasped in fear. "Do you?"

"Ok, that's enough, Alexis.", said Oyan when he saw that Recher was going to add something to that comment. If he did, then Alexander was going to kill him right away. "Marclar, if you could---"

"I decline fighting with member Marclar.", announced Alexander putting away the katana so Recher could get up and run with his tail between his legs towards Oyan. "I don't know or can use any type of guns. I'm a mere swordsman and I wish not to learn other way of fighting." Marclar mumbled under his breath something that no one could decipher, not even Oyan who was right besides him. "Is this alright with Leader?"

"Yes, I allow it.", the gunslingers were surprised by this order and petition. If the Alexander didn't want to fight against Marclar, to who was going to? "But you still need to fight another powerful member from my Guild to be able to work with us."

Alexander eyed the spy, but he giggled.

"Ah, no, no, no!", said Nidhoggr, laughing. "I'm out of the question, since I'm not a warrior; I'm just an info broker."

"Ah, what a shame… I really wanted to fight you.", the Terrennial eyed Oyan. "If Leader it's alright with it, can I ask if he wants to test me?"

Oyan's eyes widened.

"I beg your pardon?", said instead.

"I'm asking if Leader wants to fight with me instead of Marclar, since I don't know how to use guns.", answered Alexander. "And if Leader knows how to use swords. In case he can't, then I will fight with anyone Leader wants me to."

Oyan smiled. It was the first time that someone wanted to fight with him not for the title of the Guild or to prove who is stronger, but rather just to have a nice time. Warriors like Alexander were extinct. Gunslingers and such only wanted to show their weaponry and how strong were they with it. They didn't know the techniques or anything else but aim and shot.

"I allow it.", said Oyan as he dropped his guns to the floor and took a simple sword from the wooden wall. Marclar was stupefied, not really believing it. "I really like your way of thinking. I haven't met a warrior like you in ages."

"You are only in your thirties.", said Alexander. "You have a long way to go still."

"You don't see to be much older than me."

"Oh, you should be surprised how appearance cheats the eye.", the Terrennial sighed, his hands trembling again. Oyan knew the man was growing excited, though he didn't know why. "Shall we start?"

Oyan gripped the hilt of the sword. He hissed, taking deep breaths. If he wasn't careful, he could end up dead. The man before him was a dangerous one and didn't see it until now. He was glad that he had it on his side. He would hate fighting him outside the Guild.

"As you please.", said Oyan as both of them launched towards each other.


	18. Chapter 18

**(Fixed some mistakes, Re-Upload.)**

**Sorry for the delay of this chapter, but between school and the halloween especial I just uploaded, it became hard to finish it and then update it. X)**

**Lady Aria: Well, you will have to wait for a while for more hot vampire sex, seeing that I still need to cover a few things in this war. I apologize. XD**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

18

Bea came to Sheridan's mansion with two women older than her. One of them had long and black hair, tied up in a messy braid. She was two centimeters shorter than Bea and was wearing casual clothes. She wore some jewelry pieces like her marriage golden ring and a simple necklace. Her skin was lightly tanned and her piercing, dark eyes made Sheridan shiver when he opened the front door. The second one was the same height as Bea but had middle, back length hair. It was of a soft, brown color and her soft, yellow eyes weren't as aggressive as the first one. The gunslinger woman introduced them as her cousins, who were the headmaster of a small organization that helped vampires and humans equally, much to what the local Guild did years ago. The dark haired one was Nilla while the other was Paola; both of them were around her forties as Sheridan guessed. He made them enter and, with them, a huge wheeled treasure chest.

"What is inside?", asked the professor when closing the door. Carmilla already appeared and asked for the women coats that she carefully took on her arms.

"Thank you, darling.", said Nilla with a friendly smile to the maid. Carmilla blushed, embarrassed, and left shortly after. "The armors Bea asked us to bring. They are heavy, I tell you.", like remembering her modals, she took out her left hand. "I'm Nilla, pleased to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine.", answered the professor. "I'm Sheridan like you might know already. Welcome.", said in a friendly smile, too. Paola simple nodded to him, not saying anything.

"Paola can't talk.", explained Bea when Sheridan eyed her in a weird way. "She was a prisoner from the last war and they cut off her tongue and vocal cords."

"Oh, dear! I'm sorry to hear that.", Paola smiled sadly at him. "Well, if you want, let's us go to my laboratory. We can talk there.", he pushed the wheeled treasure chest with him and the three women followed him.

The laboratory was cleaned, thanks to Carmilla's hands, and he offered seats to his guests as he opened the chest to find interesting armors he could change with his alchemy. He took out one of them and put it on a metal table, examining it. Nilla started to tell him the level, elements and other important stuff the alchemist needed to know about the armors. The man wrote all down on a piece of paper. He also made some raw drawings of the armors and made small notes besides it, thinking a way he could do more than the ones inside the chest. It was going to be a hard task, but he needed to do it. The vampires fighting didn't have any protection against the solar guns and would end up dead by them. He would need at last three days to make a nice amount of those things and he didn't know if he had that time. It was three in the afternoon already. Lucian was still sleeping from yesterday's night and Ernest was supposed to be talking with Alice about Oyan's moves and such. Either way, he would need to move fast.

Carmilla bought a platter with cups of tea, a sugar pot and a teapot. She left it on a small, wooden table and started pouring tea on each teacup. Nilla asked, in a soft voice, why he had a vampire maid and the man replied by telling his own story, about the Vambery and the mysterious girl that the former Duke bought with Stoker. Nilla and Paola looked at the maid and felt sorry for her, since she lost all her memories. But they had other urgent problems to take care of now. Sheridan told them he would need tons of materials to be able to make the necessary amount of armors they needed. The problem was that said material could be only bought in cities like Culiacan and Acuna, now guarded by the north gunslingers. The only place where they could pick it up without being stopped by them was the Vambery, but Sheridan refused to go back there. He hated the place with so much force that both old women understood him.

They talked about a few things before Carmilla, at half past five in the afternoon, accompanied the women to the front door. They left and Sheridan sat on the couch where Lucian kept sleeping deeply. The vampire snored softly, still too tired. The professor sighed loudly. He had so much work to do, a work he never dreamed to do. Help the vampires… What is he thinking? He hated those bastards and yet, he was helping them without doubt, without fear. Sheridan eyed Lucian, who was clueless about what was happening in the real world. The man knew that the vampire had go through a hellhole just like him, like everyone else, but managed to stay up and follow his desires and convictions. Sheridan felt somehow weak in the inside. He was a coward; he hated fighting but also didn't have the strength to fight back even when his life was in danger. He didn't know how he was able to escape from the Vambery with Laura and Carmilla. The girls were weak and tired from the experiments Stoker and he run on them. He didn't know where all that strength came from; it was still a mystery to him.

He was never able to accomplish anything in his life, not even with his own experiments. Everything seemed incomplete, none of those things he created he liked. All of them ended up being trashed or destroyed for one or other reason. With Carmilla and Laura he felt lightly content of his own work, but bad at the same time because his own hands were the ones that rip apart their personalities, their humanity, the very one he wanted to keep, the one that he was trying to protect by staying away from vampires. He couldn't believe he was starting to leave that aside to actually help them. But he really wanted to help Aaron and Lucian with this, as well with the local gunslingers. He thought that they were going to be them only, that's why he accepted. What would they think if he, after making the armors, says he didn't want to take part in the war anymore? Would they get angry? He hoped not. They were the only nice people he actually met after escaping from the Vambery and didn't want to lose them, but he also had his own feelings towards the whole situation.

"It's ok if you don't want to keep up with this.", said a soft, male voice in the room. Sheridan jumped from his seat, but Lucian didn't move at all. The professor looked up and found the former Duke resting on the door's frame. He had his night clothes on that consisted only in a pair of shorts and a white t-shirt. The man was barefoot but, being a vampire, didn't mind. He couldn't feel the cold from the marble floor underneath.

Sheridan didn't say anything. Dumas sighed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I'm sorry I have looked up at your thoughts.", the former Duke looked at Lucian and smiled. "But the others will understand if you tell them what your feelings towards this are."

"Why would I even listen to you?", asked the man. He looked away. The last person he wanted to talk to was Dumas, and the vampire knew it. But he wasn't doing it on purpose. No one really knew how to ask Sheridan about it and Dumas knew how it was to act as he didn't care and hide his feelings. He had done it for too long.

"I don't care if you listen or not.", answered the horned man. "I'm talking with you because no one knows how you feel about this, not even Lucian.", Sheridan seemed surprised but let the former Duke continue. "If you don't want to participate, then we will leave as soon as you had finished the armors."

"It's not that I don't want to. I don't want to help your race!", exclaimed the man, standing up. Dumas followed him with his eyes. "Lucian, Aaron… I want help them because they are… they are my friends, nice people I met after leaving Vambery, and I don't want them to die because they don't have the proper equipment.", he sighed, stopping by a window. The sun was slowly setting behind the trees of the forest surrounding the mansion, dying the leaves of a bright, orange color. "I didn't know vampires were going to join them."

"We didn't either.", said Dumas with honesty. "I really thought the only ones going to fight were going to be us.", he left the door's frame and walked towards Sheridan. "I can talk with them if you want."

"No, I will do it by my own.", the professor crossed his arms over his chest, not watching Dumas at all. His eyes were on the forest in front of him.

"When?", asked softly. Both knew time was running out. If Sheridan wanted to make a decision, it should be now.

The professor pressed his lips together.

"…After I finish the armors.", answered after a few minutes.

Dumas smiled.

"Alright.", he turned around and walked to the couch, kicking Lucian's sleeping form. "Get the hell up, lazyass!", yelled. The vampire jumped on his place, growling after seeing it was only Dumas. "It's already six in the afternoon! How long do you keep on sleeping?"

"The time I see necessary, bitch!!", answered Lucian, curling under the blankets again. "Fuck you…", he whispered, receiving another kick from the former Duke. "Get the hell lost!!"

"Not until you stand up.", said the horned man, pushing Lucian's body with his legs.

Dumas laughed when the vampire's tiny wings trembled in anger. He stayed under the blankets even when the other was pissing him off. After a while, Dumas grew bored and left the room, mumbling some words about Lucian being an idiot. Said one heard him but only growled deeply as he closed his eyes again to get more sleep. Sheridan smiled. Now he could see what Aaron saw in Dumas when they met after four, long years. The man wasn't the same as before, not even Lucian was. But still, that deep hate he feels towards the former Duke will never fade away as easy as it did in Aaron and the others. Sheridan's wound was impossible to heal and will constantly bleed and hurt.

Around nine in the evening, Carmilla appeared in Aaron's room with a platter. On it, there was a plate with soup, some bread slices and a glass with juice. The young boy was still feeling the laziness of just waking up and was still underneath the blankets. He asked Perrault and Nero to accompany him while sleeping, since he couldn't find it because Lucian wasn't with him. Both Terrennials were in their human forms and were as lazy as the boy was at that time. Carmilla smiled at him, knowing that Aaron was better than the days before and the smell of the soup made him sat on the bed almost instantly. He thanked Carmilla's gesture as he started drinking it.

"Is Lucian up already?", asked Nero, flipping his tail back and forth. He was lying on his stomach, perking his ears at each weird sound. He groaned when Perrault laid on his back, starting to play with his ears. "Tch! Annoying girl!"

"No, he is still sleeping.", answered the maid. "But Sheridan told me that Dumas was about to wake him up in a few hours."

"He can't sleep this much!", yelled the cat, who was starting to purr at the other's Terrennial's action, much to his despite. "Damn it, Perrault! Stop it!", he didn't want to admit it, but the way she was scratching his back felt too good.

She laughed.

"You are so cute, Nero! Why don't we wake Lucian up?", suggested as she started to massage his ears. The black cat purred loudly, just nodding, smiling like a fool.

They returned to their beast form and left the room. Carmilla followed short time after, and Aaron ate in silence on the bed. After finishing, he left the platter on the light table besides him. He stood up and saw that he didn't feel any dizziness from the blood loss. He smiled widely as he made it to the desk to pick up the clothes Dumas let him borrow from his own closet. He really needed to buy some clothes but, having no money with him right now and being the Guild closed at it was, he would have to use the other's clothes for a while, until the fight was over.

Some noises caught his attention. He turned to the covered window and saw a familiar creature trying to get in. It was screeching like mad, trying to be heard. Aaron rushed to it and the small vampire bat landed on the boy's chest, smelling its master's scent. Attached to its back was a different kind of paper the boy had put on the bat. So the letter had arrived to Dyango after all. Aaron sat on the desk, not bothering in putting the clothes yet, and took the paper off the bat's back. He opened it and read the following:

"_It will be my pleasure to meet you again, but I think that having your mate around would be not so safe for me, seeing how he reacted the other day he saw us together. Seeing as you might stay in Sheridan's mansion for a while, why don't we meet up once they have left? Though your mate might ask the Terrennial's some help, I can easily cover up our presence in the forest using my own powers._

_Having a bat delivering the message it's a bit risky seeing how the north gunslinger had taken almost every city on the East. If the bat gets kill or they lay their hands on the letters we share they will soon notice where you are hiding. Besides, sometimes they lost track of their target and don't delivery the letter in time, as it happened here. If you are free this night, I wish you could meet me up in the same spot we did the other day. I will teach you a better and safer way of delivering letter or messages to other vampires. If you can't, don't worry. I have a friend that can help me getting inside the mansion, covering up my presence. Dyango."_

Sneaking out from the mansion that night was going to be a real pain. He wasn't alone like the other day. This time, the three vampires were in the same place and Aaron thought they weren't going to leave soon. He glanced at the clock and saw it was already a quarter to ten in the evening. Sheridan was soon going to sleep if he didn't have anything to work on; Lucian was probably staying to be with him. He didn't know what were Nish and Dumas going to do and he wasn't really worrying about the Terrennials, though he still worried about Alexander. They hadn't any news about him. He knew the owl was all right, but being under Oyan's pressure and power would be too much even for him, but Alexander had good ways in fooling the enemy, as he learned over those four years. Aaron had this feeling that the wind Terrennial would work out his situation inside the Guild and, perhaps for that, Lucian and the other six Terrennials didn't worry too much about him.

He folded the note and hid it under a simple wooden box that had different types of pens. He let the bat fly away and proceed to put the clothes Dumas had given to him. For the boy, they were lightly uncomfortable. He wasn't used in wearing tight shirts with long sleeves and turtle neck, but it suited him good, oddly. Aaron was happy that the former Duke didn't think if giving him some weird tight pants, he couldn't bear wearing them. Instead, he gave him some loose jeans and a belt, along with a pair of boots, the same ones he used when he shared his blood with Lucian. Aaron left the room and walked down the stairs, finding his mate lazing on the couch. Nish was sitting besides him, talking in a soft voice, while the other kept the blanket around himself. He smiled, approaching both vampires. Nish was the first in noticing his presence but, as Lucian noticed it too, he jumped from his seat and almost threw Aaron on the floor with his inhuman strength. They shared some kisses before Dumas showed up.

"Well, since we are all up, I guess it's time to see what are we going to do tonight about the subject that concern us.", said as he sat and leaned over Nish, who put a hand around the former Duke's shoulders. "We should talk with Ernest and the others. Sheridan told me that Bea has already come with the armors early in the afternoon with her cousins. He will work on them the following three days but we need to gather the materials he needs."

"Since Acuna and Culiacan are being patrolled by Oyan's men, the only place we can go it's the Vambery, right?", said Lucian. "What materials he needs?"

"He has a list that he gave it to me so we can go and pick them up.", answered Dumas. "After that, we can meet up with Ernest at his hideout and talk with him there. I hope he has already arranged something with Alice."

"I'm sure he did.", added Aaron. The boy was sitting comfortably on Lucian's lap, who was sitting on the opposite couch.

"Oh, I forgot about that. She sent me a photograph of Oyan's spy a few days ago.", said as he searched for the pink mobile that was hiding between his armor and the cloth beneath it. "He looks like a child, about twelve or fourteen year old. It's all covered up, and you can see his glasses only.", when he found it, he put the picture on it's screen and gave it to Nish, who watched it with Dumas. "She wasn't able to tell if he is human or vampire, and neither I---"

"It's Froggy!", exclaimed Dumas, surprised. He took the phone from Nish's hands, watching the picture carefully. "Yes, it's indeed him. I though he died when I killed Ratatosk…"

"Who is Froggy?", asked Nish. Lucian and Aaron smiled to each other as they noticed a jealousy tone in the albino's voice.

"He was a very, very, very intelligent vampire that worked with Ratatosk. He was pretty short, since he was a kid as Lucian said.", started to explain. "He was nice, but had a very acid sense of humor and often picked up with other members working with the Lord. I have fought with him, too. Everyone was target from his cruel jokes.", he returned the phone to Lucian. "He was, also, very good at sneaking and retrieving information and his experiments and inventions were as good as Stoker's or Sheridan's, though he sucked badly at alchemy."

"Why Froggy?", asked with curiosity the young boy.

"Because of his hands and feet.", said Dumas, smiling. "They were exactly the same as a frog, and he was always wearing green clothes."

"Do you know his real name?", asked Lucian.

"No, not really. Ratatosk hated calling us by our names, so he actually let Froggy pick nicknames for each person working for him."

"What happened to him?"

"Well, I thought he died in the last war eleven years ago, since the last time I saw him, he was bathed on his own blood and bleeding massively. Even a vampire would die after losing so much blood.", explained. "At that time I didn't care so I left him there, to die alone. Guess the frog has jumped to another pool to save its ass.", added with a grin.

Aaron, seeing that they were most likely going to the hideout to talk with Ernest, he was trying to think in a good excuse to stay in the mansion. But all things he thought were useless as Lucian wouldn't buy them. He wanted to see Dyango that night, but didn't know how. If Sheridan was working on the armors, he wasn't going to leave the laboratory in a good while. Carmilla would be too busy fussing on him about how he was doing such work and would bring him food and other supplies for the stubborn alchemist. Nero and Perrault were going with their masters, and the ones staying would probably be Ezra, Tove and Toasty, but he wasn't worrying about them.

Lucian's pink phone rang. He picked up the call and noticed it was Ernest talking, asking when they were going to come. Ursula told them that Oyan seemed very quiet these days and his men weren't so active as before. He was up to something, that's for sure, and they needed to move as fast as he was if they wanted to win this fight. Lucian set an hour and hanged up. He looked at Aaron, who sighed. Even when his face showed he was angry, the joy building inside almost made him jump from the seat.

"What? Do you want me to stay again?", said before his mate could say something.

The vampire smiled sadly. He kissed the boy softly on the lips.

"Please. Tomorrow night you will be completely healed. Though Vambery it's empty after we killed Polidori, you have to remember that when someone goes higher on that building, the stronger the monsters are.", he kissed him again. This time, Aaron returned the kiss. "In your state, you will last only the first twenty floors."

"I'm not that weak!", cried offended the boy. Lucian gave him a look that made Aaron sigh for a second time. "Alright, alright. I will stay.", the vampire laughed under his breath as he nibbled his left ear. Aaron moaned softly, shivering at the contact.

"Thank you.", whispered Lucian into his hear before sliding his tongue in it. "I promise I will treat you well when I return.", said with naughty voice, making Aaron blush softly as he smiled at the propose.

He got up like Dumas and Nish. They prepared themselves and left a couple of minutes after. Aaron could feel he was alone in the house even when Carmilla and Sheridan were in the laboratory but they weren't going to even know he was gone until they looked up in his room. He went upstairs, to his room, and closed the door lightly. He walked to the window and saw the walking silhouette's of the vampires before they lost themselves in the shadows of the forest. Aaron would wait at last half an hour before leaving. He wanted to make sure Lucian and the others were outside the territory since he didn't want them to fight against Dyango.

Looking up in the closet, he took out some warm clothes he put on and Lucian's jacket, which let it on the bed as he glanced to the clock. It was almost midnight. Dyango and he met up around one in the morning if he remembered correctly. He was going to be bored for a while.

Sitting on the desk, he took the letter and read it again. He started to think about the friend that Dyango mentioned in the letter. Who could be? Was going to be a vampire, a human? He admitted he was nervous about this friend since he didn't know if Dyango was worth of trusting. Aaron shook his head. If he didn't give him a chance, he would never know.

He was surprised to see a very concordance with Dyango's name and with the Solar Child's name, Django, whom Toasty talked about almost a week ago. Aaron often thought if they weren't the same person. If not, at last having some kind of similitude with each other. The young man was very polite and nice with him and that's something Aaron admired and liked about him. He was still a brat, was bad mouthed (he blamed that sometimes to Lucian, who was ten times worst than him), and was still immature in some ways. He needed to grow up a lot, now he thought of, and perhaps having Dyango as his friend and the vampires with him would help him to achieve that goal, though he didn't want to grow up so fast, he still wanted to enjoy life and not worry about his responsibilities. Once he turns eighteen and after all the fight ends, he will start thinking getting a job. He couldn't depend anymore from Ernet's and Bea's money. He wouldn't worry where to live since he and Lucian shared the payment of the Inn, thought it would be nice to have their own place. But for now, having the Inn was very good. Besides, the owner knew them for quiet a while and sometimes tolerated that the boys didn't have any money to pay for the month's debt. Aaron smiled at that. He was glad that some people were that gentle with them, especially now that Lucian is a vampire.

Some of the words that the vampires asked to him when he went to the castle were running in his mind for quiet some time now. They asked him if he would give up what he was to become something else and he, moved up by his heart and feelings, answered that he would, without doubts. Yet now was starting to have them. He didn't know if he was going to be ready to actually ask Lucian if he could transform him into a vampire, nor he was sure if Lucian was going to allow it. What if his mate refused to do it? Is there another way to let him be immortal and stay with him? He didn't know anything about that; he had to admit he was a truly ignorant. Perhaps Sheridan knew about a way or had a book that talked about it. He could ask later and then, be ready a few years later. Lucian was a vampire now and will not age anymore, staying with his youth figure until someone killed him, while he would do completely the opposite. Aaron sighed, touching the mate mark he had on his neck. It wasn't as swollen as the day they mated but still ached and he knew it was still red, looking now more like a hickey than anything else. He blushed, remembering those nights they made lustful love under the influence of the Moon and the aphrodisiac. He smiled. He never knew he would fall for someone like Lucian, but he told himself several times that they attracted to each other because of their own personalities, nor he knew he would actually fall for a man but no one had yelled at him for his choice or told him anything about it. It was good to see that they had an open mind in those things. Aaron didn't know what he would have done if Ernest, Bea and Kay fought with him for his sexual tendencies.

Another thing he didn't understand is why Lucian would change preferences. From what he was told, he loved a woman back when he was still human and a gunslinger. How he didn't mind going from a woman to a man so easily? Unless the man was already bisexual from the beginning. Now that he thought about those changes, he still was amused at how easy Lucian changed his mind about his vampiric powers. The first time he was completely angered about them, complaining about them, hating them, and cursing because there was nothing to do. Then, like out of nothing, he was actually excited about the idea of turning, at last, into a vampire. Who or what made him change his mind? He didn't want to ask; fearing it was something Lucian would regret telling him or didn't want to answer. Aaron groaned. His mate was so difficult. He was so full of mysteries. Sometimes it felt as he didn't know anything from Lucian at all, since the man closes to his own mate sometimes, not really wanting to talk about certain subjects like his past. All the boy knew about it was years before listing in the Guild and that the man suffered a lot, so much that bringing up those memories again would make him revive those feelings he was trying to bury deep underground. Sometimes, he would say a few things but then, Lucian would shut up, tell Aaron to forget what he said and change the subject or leave from wherever they were at the moment. It was so frustrating. Aaron was trying to understand more about Lucian's life, but the man was complicating it all. Why it was so wrong telling him his past? With more reason, he should now he was his mate, and if he wanted the boy to understand some moods about him that Aaron didn't really like at all.

When he lifted his head and looked at the clock, it was already ten past one in the morning. Standing up in a rush, the boy took Lucian's jacket, put his gun around his hips, closed said jacket and left the room. Closing with extremely care the door, Aaron walked soundless on the hallway, reaching the stairs, watching if the Terrennials, Sheridan or Carmilla were around. Using his basic instincts and what he learned all over those years in the Guild and from Lucian, he sneaked out from the mansion like a real thief. The boy shivered as a cold breeze blew softly in the night. He tightens up the jacket around his neck and proceeds to walk away. The Moon was barely seen in the dark sky and the shadows around the forest weren't helping him at all. He couldn't see as good as vampires and managed to walk with the little he had, jumping at each sound he heard. He walked not so long when he met up with Dyango, who was sleeping on the same branch of the same tree he found him the first time he came to the forest. The young man was covered with his dirty coat and wasn't aware of the kids presence. Taking this to his advantage, Aaron climbed the tree with swift movements and managed to sit on a branch near Dyango.

"Good evening!", he said in a loud voice, shaking the man's shoulders.

"I didn't do it!", Dyango shouted, sitting up and looking around. "Oh!", said as he blushed deeply in embarrassment when he saw Aaron smiling at him. "Good Heavens, I'm sorry! You should think I'm some sort of crazy man that talks in his sleeps…"

"We all do it some time in our dreams.", he knew that for sure because Lucian, some nights before full moon but way before he started to have his mating cycle, made interesting noises while he was sleeping, mumbling words and tossing around the bed. Aaron had to wake him up several times because first, he couldn't sleep and second, he was too embarrassed to keep hearing the man's pleasure sounds. "I thought you might have left already because I wasn't coming."

Dyango smiled, putting his coat back.

"I was going to leave, but I fell asleep instead.", answered. "I was sure you weren't going to be able to leave the mansion today, but I guess I was wrong", he yawned, stretching up, feeling a bit lazy. "So, how are you?"

"A little worried about the guys.", answered Aaron, sitting on the branch. "They went to the Vambery to pick up some materials Sheridan needs, and I don't know how long are they are going to be out."

The man hummed.

"Then we should get moving back to the mansion.", said Dyango as he stood up.

"What?", the boy imitated him. "You can't!"

Dyango arched his eyebrows, in surprise.

"Why not? Shouldn't be better if your friends and mate meets me?", asked.

"What would you think or say or act if you suddenly bring a stranger to your brother's or friend's house, saying you just 'met' him?"

"….Point taken."

"_Well, we will not know how they will react until we all meet."_, said the shadow under their feet. Aaron yelled, scared, looking everywhere. "_Ah, don't worry, little one. I'm not going to hurt you."_

"I will make sure of that once I can see you!!", replied Aaron, still looking around. But he only heard a soft, male voice. "Who is that one?", asked to Dyango.

"My Shadow.", answered, pointing down to the ground. "He is nice, just a bit… mm, well. He has a very acid humor.", Dyango jumped down on the ground. Aaron followed. "He has an incredible ability of manipulating shadows at will and he is a great shape shifter."

The shadow under Dyango's shoes changed its silhouette and Aaron looked at it, amazed. Then, it started to shine in a light, purple color, slowly coming out from the ground and reaching its full height, which were only a few centimeters taller than Aaron. The shadow reached the man's chest, not really that tall. The shadows slipped away from the body and they revealed a young looking vampire, covered in black clothes. The vampire boy had short, but smooth white hair and same red eyes as his entire race. He smiled, showing the tip of his fangs.

"Pleased to meet you.", said the vampire boy. Aaron noticed that some shadows were coming from his long cloak, dancing and then disappearing in the air, as they were alive. "I'm Black Shadow."

"I'm Aaron.", said the boy back, eyeing the vampire. He didn't have the same aspect that modern ones. Could it be that this vampire was even older than Dumas himself? Besides, the clothes he was wearing weren't anything like Casket Armor. "Pleased to meet you too!"

Black Shadow laughed softly.

"It's amazing how much energy you have.", said as he started to walk around Aaron. "How much sugar do you eat a day?"

"…None?", answered Aaron, not really understanding the question at all. "Why you ask?"

Dyango giggled as he pushed the vampire boy aside softly.

"Like I told you, he has a weird and acid sense of humor.", instead of reacting offended, Black Shadow grinned, returning to his previous form of Dyango's shadow. "Come, let's go to the mansion."

"No!", yelled again Aaron. "Please, don't go! Sheridan will not like it, especially if your are a dhampir who is accompanied with a vampire; he hates them."

"Gotta figured…", he sighed. "We need someone in common that can introduce me into your group, but I can't think of anyone."

"Neither I…", just then, an idea came in mind. "I know! Once the guys return, you can come here and say you want to help us!"

"But, didn't they already make a reunion?"

"So what? Just say you missed it and heard it from another fellows, and you want to help.", Aaron saw that Dyango wasn't too convinced, and sighed. "What's with you? You rejected meeting the others after you encountered Lucian a few days ago. Are you afraid of him now?"

"There a few things I can't tell you right now that concerns your loving mate.", answered Dyango, feeling uncomfortable talking about his personal stuff. "I will once the time comes but right now… I can't. I'm sorry."

Aaron smiled sadly. He knew how he felt. Talking about his father and all he had to go through the war four years ago was hard too.

"It's alright, then. But try to meet them before we go into battle. Once it starts, no one will trust a new welcomer in our side."

Dyango snorted.

"Yes, I know the feeling, been there…", mumbled as he remembered some scenes from his childhood. "So! Let's talk about what I _really_ want to know!", said suddenly, changing his energy, his mood, his voice.

Aaron took a step backwards.

"…What?"

"I want you to answer some questions about your mate's behavior!"

Aaron sighed. _Another_ long night.

They talked about Lucian for the last couple of hours. Dyango went really deep in details, writing down everything the boy was saying about how Lucian changed of moods depending on the Moon's phase. Sometimes, he wasn't affected by it. Sometimes, he was, mostly on mating cycle. Aaron had to tell the change of role that the vampire seemed to like when they were on bed, as well as the weird taste for pain Lucian had, and the high fantasy of being physically abused by his young mate. Aaron had some troubles answering those questions, he wasn't used at talking about such personal details but since Dyango was the author of the vampirism book and he was doing more research to do another version of it, he couldn't reject him. After a while, he felt more comfortable about it and all the information flow from his mouth to the paper that the pencil was writing.

Dyango asked some weird questions Aaron couldn't decipher their meaning. One of them was if he always had brown eyes, to which he couldn't answer due that he was way too young when Lucian left the Guild but, according to Ernest, he did, though he wasn't sure of it. Another one was if he had some sort of scar on his face, especially on the right cheek of his face. Aaron denied knowing any kind of scar. If Lucian ever had one, he would be the first to know.

"Did he always been a masochist?", asked the man.

"As far as I know, yes.", answered the boy. Both of them decided to return to the tree since they weren't going to the mansion. It was safer and they had less chances of being seen. "And sadist, too."

"Do you know how he transformed into a vampire?"

"Yes, but it's too confusing.", Dyango stopped writing. He lifted his head and watched Aaron.

The boy proceed to tell about Nero's strange creation, how he bonded with Lucian and how he lived with the curse being controlled by the talisman inside the eye-patch and how he ended up accepting the curse and finally transforming into a vampire.

"He changed his mind?", repeated Dyango. "How? As you tell, he was furious. Who made him change his mind?"

"I honestly don't know. Wish I knew, though. I could understand him a bit better…", he smiled to himself, thinking how long his mate and the others were going to be at the Vambery. Then, he remembered they were going to see Ernest. He thought how he had forgotten about that. "Augh… I completely forgot!"

"About?"

"Lucian and the others are going to the Guild's hideout to discuss the situation. I told them I wanted to go, but I don't know when they are going to pick me up, if they ever remember they have to.", Dyango chuckled. "Then they say I'm the clumsy one…"

"Well, it's almost four in the morning.", said as he watched his wrist watch. "If they are going to pick you up then you should return to the mansion.", he stood up, stretching his legs. "Oh, before I go, I have to teach you a few things…"

Aaron blinked, confused, as he stood up too.

"What things?"

"I bet you didn't know you can control Dark Matter now you have been bitten by your vampire mate, did you?", the boy shook his head. "Thought so. Lucian doesn't want you to harm yourself, maybe that's why he hadn't told you anything about it.", more confused, Aaron stood still, waiting for Dyango to explain things a bit more. "Alright. When a vampire mates and marks his partner, usually some of his powers transfers to the other, even if this is human. Don't worry, you don't have the curse.", he reassured to the boy, who was starting to panic. "They are harmless for you, since the biting has two functions; one, the most obvious one which is to mark, and two, being a vaccine."

"To restrict the dark powers within me…", finished Aaron, and Dyango nodded.

"Exactly! Boy, you learn quick, eh!", he smiled. "Now, since you now have those dark powers in you, even if you are human you can develop them and be able to use them with proper training.", Dyango opened and extended his left hand from which started a black and purple fire that soon transformed into living flame shadows. "It requires patience and a lot of physical and mental work.", the shadows returned to its previous form and took the appearance of a rat then, a small wolf and last, a bat. The flame bat flew around both males before hanging from a thin branch. "Using it to create these little creatures you can deliver messages to anyone at the same time, since you can make as many as you want."

"Isn't dangerous, though? Wouldn't they end up as normal monsters?", asked Aaron, seeing how the little bat looked around.

"Completely the opposite. Being shadow creatures, they can mix up with other shadows or monsters. Gunslingers will never notice them and they will go straight to the person you want to receive the message.", explained Dyango. "It's safer this way. You can make them held a paper letter if you want."

"How do I do it?", asked Aaron, putting both of his hands out of the coat's pockets.

"Practice, boy, practice.", said the man, laughing. "It requires some control of your mind and physical work to maintain the form on your body. The mind is the one that creates it and makes it stay alive.", he looked at the flame bat and, in a blink of an eye, it vanished. "A single thought and it's gone.", he turned to Aaron. "You have it and you have to take it out. There are thousands of ways of doing it. Your work its finding yours.", Dyango petted the boy on his head. "See ya!", said before disappearing in his own shadow.

Aaron headed back to the mansion, thinking a way he could take those dark powers out of him. He couldn't ask for Lucian's or Dumas' help because they would start asking him question about where he found it. Perhaps Nish was going to help him without asking him anything. He hoped so. He was the last one and the only one he knew that could help him.

The mansion was too quiet when he entered it after being absent for the last three or four hours, he didn't know. Did Sheridan notice it? Aaron closed the door softly behind him, making the less noise he could. He hadn't seen the Terrennials either and was starting to feel somehow unease. He swallowed hard, reaching the stairs and just managing to get to the first five steps when he heard someone clearing his throat. When he turned around, he gasped.

"Dumas?", said the boy, surprised.

"Lucian had a feeling you will flee tonight, too.", answered the former Duke, reaching the boy and grabbing him by the collar of the coat, lifting him up. Aaron yelled, scared. "What's with you, kid? You aren't like this."

"Why are you here? Didn't you leave with the others?", asked instead. He couldn't tell him yet about Dyango.

"I did, but then I returned when Lucian told me I should stay to watch over you.", answered the horned vampire, going upstairs not putting the boy down yet. "I can't believe how right he was about you.", Aaron pouted, not really saying anything. After all, he didn't have anything to say. "What the hell were you doing outside in the forest?"

They reached the boy's room and entered. Only then, Dumas put Aaron down as he closed the door behind him. Aaron took the coat off and let it fall on the bed, as he flopped down on it too. The vampire sat on the bed also, rubbing the boy's back softly.

"What's up? Something concerning you?", asked the man.

"Why didn't Lucian told me that he transferred some of his powers to me?", the hand rubbing his back stopped its movements. Aaron turned his head a bit, watching Dumas' dead stare. "What?"

"Who told you?", asked in a sever tone, but the boy knew he was worried about him.

"I read it on that vampirism book.", said. It was a lie and Aaron knew it, but nothing else came in mind at that time, and he feared that Dumas could see through him and discover the truth, as most vampires could do.

"Why would you want to control them?", the rubbing continued. Dumas felt lightly calmer now, though still angry or tense, Aaron couldn't tell. "For a human like you, it's dangerous. Your body it's not used to work with that type of energy."

"What's the worst that could happen to me?"

The horned man pushed the boy's back softly, but enough to cause a small pain to the boy.

"Didn't the book says it?", Aaron cursed himself.

"No, if it did, I wouldn't be asking, right?", said in his usual and casual voice, looking at the vampire with an amused expression that made the former Duke smile.

"Don't ask Lucian, Nish or me to teach you, because we will not."

"Why?"

"I already told you; it's dangerous. I don't want you to be in danger for a stupid whim, alright? It's not usual that a vampire mates a human, so I don't know how said dark energy affects the human's body. And I don't want you to be the first feeling those effects."

"What if the dark energy doesn't affect me?", dared the boy. Anything to make the horned man change his opinion.

"I prefer not risking your health or life.", he petted his back one last time. "Although Lucian should have told you about them after mating with you…"

"Should, but didn't do it.", corrected Aaron. Dumas smiled again and petted the boy's head. "When are Lucian and Nish coming back?"

"Soon. Perrault told me that they had some troubles with some Lizards in the Vambery, but they managed to accumulate high amounts of the ingredients Sheridan needs.", Aaron bit his bottom lip. He didn't know Perrault was with him too. What if the Terrennial saw him with Dyango, and heard them about the dark powers Lucian had transferred to him? The boy sighed. Couldn't this problem be more complicated? "Worried?", damn Dumas and his vampire intuition.

"Yeah…", he was being honest, at last in a way. "This whole things makes me nervous.", he heard the vampire laugh softly under his breath. "It's not like I haven't been in a war before but…"

"I know.", Dumas flopped down on the bed, facing the ceiling over him. "When I was still human, I disliked wars. Just when I transformed into a vampire, my personality gave a one-eighty hundred degrees turn, and changed to a man that loves to fight and kill.", the man sighed, putting his hands on his chest.

"Now with that body you can't do a lot, and I think Nish has something to do, too.", Aaron giggled when a deep blush covered Dumas' face.

"What nonsense are you saying, kid?", he tried to look offended and angry at the same time, but failed miserably. He was slowly changing again. "He is just my fuck partner."

"Come on! You know better than me that isn't true!", he hit Dumas softly on his arm, in a playful way.

"What makes you think that? There is nothing between us!", exclaimed with emphasis.

"Then why the hell are you so clingy and so cuddling and so loving with him?", Dumas was about to reply when Aaron interrupted. "You are always over him, fussing over him. Nish this, Nish that. You let him sleep with you (not in the sexual way, sharing beds you pervert minded vampire!), and you talk about some facts that you wouldn't say if he was a mere fucking partner.", the vampire avoided the boy's gaze, and turned on his side, facing his back to Aaron. "Why are you afraid?"

"…It's not easy for me to trust someone.", whispered Dumas. "Some of my friends betrayed me, people of my own race loved to pick on me before I become the man I'm right now. The first one to take my mask down was Rymer, and I was afraid too, of opening to someone that wanted me for how I am, rather to what or who I am, after all I went through and all the pain that I took from opening my heart.", he sighed a second time. "Nish seemed to take that same mask down again but I'm trying to create another mask beneath the first in other to protect myself from any harm…"

"How can you know if Nish it's going to hurt you if you don't give him a chance to reach you?", asked Aaron, putting an arm around the vampire's shoulders. "Isn't that unfair to him? I understand you have hurt a lot in the past but that's no reason to give up on others so easily."

Dumas snorted.

"I never say I was giving him up.", the vampire turned around and faced Aaron's gray eyes. "I'm saying that it's hard to trust again when you only knew pain and disloyalty."

"But, Nish it's a nice vampire. Besides, he can bear with you. Doesn't that give him points?"

"What the hell do you mean with that? Am I annoying?", asked Dumas, pissed.

"…Just all the time.", answered Aaron with a naughty smile. He escaped from the vampire's hands and jumped from the bed, laughing. "Get over it, dummy! You are too stubborn to see you actually fall for him!"

"You little brat!", yelled Dumas, jumping after Aaron. "Get hold of yourself because once I get you, you will regret being born!!"

Both of them kept running around the room, not really feeling the eyes of Lucian and Nish through the lightly opened door. The albino smiled softly before closing it without making any noise.

"I can't understand what have you saw in that crazy horned vampire.", said the Dark Swordsman as he and Nish walked down the hallway. "As Aaron said, he is too annoying sometimes."

"We love people not for their virtues, bur rather for their defects.", answered Nish. "You should know it better than me or them.", Lucian nodded, smiling.

"Ah, what a fate…", said between sighs. "What a fate.", repeated as he and Nish went to the laboratory to help Sheridan in getting done those armors in time.


	19. Chapter 19

**(Fixed some mistakes, Re-Upload.)**

**It's rather short this chapter, but love the Nish/Dumas fluff here. X)**

**Enjoy and until next chapter!**

* * *

19

Alice was starting to worry about Oyan's inactivity. He had reunited over three or five thousands of followers, all of them staying in their own homes until he needed them. But besides that, his soldiers weren't doing the usual patrolling outside the Guild or going into hunt. She couldn't decipher what was that huge and black barrier covering the training fields of the Guild and not even Nish could when he went late at night in his full form. He was trying to break the barrier but had to leave when a group of gunslingers spotted him flying in the sky. The Sunflower Girl had said that Oyan hadn't move in about a week and that was something that was worrying Ernest to no end. Even when Oyan hadn't move, he was training some of the people that wanted to help them in the fight. They would have some troubles but at last they weren't going to be unharmed against the enemy.

Sheridan was progressing with the armors. After fixing and leveling one of them, using his alchemy he copied the properties of it on the remaining and made new ones for everyone. He still needed to do around four hundred, but at the rate he was working, he would finish soon. Bea and her cousins were maintaining the hideout clean and with supplies for the humans helping them. Vampires rejected any help with the food, as most of them helped in getting rid of the rate plague that was in the hideout. Just two days in it, and the rats had almost disappeared from sight.

Aaron kept meeting up with Dyango, but it was harder than before. If it wasn't Lucian who watched over him, then it was either Dumas or Nish, but Nish knew the boy wasn't up to something bad so he let him go outside for a while and return minutes before his mate could show up. The young boy was learning how to summon and control the darkness he now had inside his body with Dyango's help. Nish was helping too, but in secret. The ice vampire laughed when Aaron told him what Dumas did. He just petted the boy's head and started to explain some basic things about it. That was almost a week ago. Now, Aaron could summon the dark energy and create small things like orbs, flames and thin but long needles that Dyango taught how to use them as weapons. Lucian started to suspect as he started to feel how the energy that he had transferred to his mate slowly grew, but Nish lied to him saying it was because he was fully recovered from the blood lose. The Dark Swordsman wasn't convinced, but let it go for the moment.

In that week, Dumas and Nish seemed to get closer and closer, even when the former Duke said they weren't. Besides training and helping the horned man in getting his Trance ability back, the ice vampire wanted to see if the Duke wanted to start a second formal relationship with someone different. Nish traced his plan since they returned from the massacre in the Hunting Mansion, seeing and talking with Lucian about where he could take Dumas for a walk and chat, or just be the two of them. Nish was used at being with people, but with the horned man was different. He had fallen in love several times before, but not so much like he was doing it with the former Duke.

"Why?", asked Dumas when Nish said he wanted to hang out with him, to rest a bit from Ernest's training.

"What? You don't want to spend time with me?", replied the ice vampire, annoyed. If there was something about Dumas that pissed him off was he couldn't understand simple suggestions or question like that, unless he was feeling uneasy about going with him that his brain needed to process the information. Nish laughed at the thought.

The horned man blushed lightly.

"...I do, but I don't think..."

"Yes?", said Nish, turning around to see the cute face Dumas was making at his own confusion.

"Well...", he was trying to come up with some excuse, but found no one. "Well... Alright!", exclaimed, standing up and going to the room that Sheridan had picked up for him and Nish to sleep in.

Nish smiled at him. He didn't know why, but he was glad that he had found him wandering around in the forest that night of full Moon.

Dumas quickly went upstairs but, instead of going to his room, he walked in Lucian's room without bothering knocking. The vampire, startled, hissed at the intrusion but faded into a groan upon seeing him. Aaron was about to ask what was happening when Dumas told him he needed him, urgently. He didn't give the boy any chance to question his actions as he dragged him out of the room, with Lucian shooting curses at the former Duke.

"What's up with you?", asked Aaron once he and Dumas reached their destiny. The boy had a light idea when he saw the blushing face of the horned vampire. "Nish?", the vampire nodded and Aaron giggled. "What happened?"

"…Wants to spend time with me…", whispered the man, leaning on the closed door.

"That's so cool!", yelled the boy walking to him. "So good! I bet you had said yes, right?", Dumas nodded. "Then why you dragged me out of the room?", the man blushed again. "Nervous?"

"Quiet a lot.", admitted. "I need… just need to calm down a bit, and perhaps talk… about anything."

Aaron smiled.

"You are not sure if you want to be with him after all.", it wasn't a question and Dumas noticed it.

"No, not at all.", the man looked at the floor, sighing. "Like I told you, it's hard for me to open up my heart…", Dumas lifted his gaze and found Aaron's one. "I want to give it a chance but…"

"After all you have been through, I think you deserve someone proper to love you.", said Aaron. "Why don't you change clothes and reunite with Nish? I bet he is tired of waiting."

Dumas smiled. He let the boy exit the room and he proceed to change his clothes and put on some new ones before walking down the stairs and meet the albino vampire, whom was also changed, and was waiting for him near the frontal doors. Both of them left the mansion and walked in the forest until they came across with Acuna. They didn't talk too much. Actually, Dumas didn't want to talk about anything with Nish right now. He was busy thinking about the intentions of said vampire, and his own feelings and decisions. The former Duke wasn't ready for a new relationship, or so he thought, and was trying to find excuses to reject Nish if he ever comes with a formal declaration or something similar.

His thoughts were interrupted when the other's hand tangled with his own. Dumas peeped, with his face blushing deeply, and saw that Nish was also blushing but lightly, not really wanting to see him right now, just having his hand into his own. He wanted to say something, but he feared that the words that would leave his mouth would die in his throat or wouldn't reach Dumas hears, or would be plain boring. It was harder for Nish to start a conversation with the former Duke if they were alone. He didn't know anything from the vampire at all, and didn't want to say something that will make him angry or sad.

"You always lived here?", Nish surprised himself when he heard Dumas' question. He could feel he was nervous as he was.

"Not really.", answered after coming out from his surprise. "I have always been a nomad, and been in almost every city, town and lands from this planet."

"But you must have stayed in a place for quiet some time."

"I did.", said the albino, sighing. "But I left afterwards. I left a year before Ratatosk attacked my home town and destroyed it."

Dumas opened his mouth but closed it, when the words didn't come out from it. He lowered his head and stared at the ground. That's why he didn't want to ask about Nish's life. Half of it was his own fault when he was working under Ratatosk's orders, going from here to there, killing and destroying towns, letting his minions take every human to the castle, jail them, torture them… He had been the cause of so much suffering in the past that couldn't understand how Nish still looked at him and said he liked him. How could you like the person responsible of creating so much chaos in your life? Or maybe that was the reason why Nish liked him… What was he thinking? There must be another reason why the albino sticks up with him.

"But I wasn't angry at the Lord at all.", continued Nish. Dumas returned to reality, pushing away his thoughts to focus on him. "I had a… not so nice childhood after all, and I think I was kinda happy to see that everyone was receiving their punishment from the things they did to me when I was a child.", he smiled sadly. "I was still a kid back then, and I learned how to survive on my own with other kids that managed to escape from Ratatosk's massacre.", they came across a huge lake and they started walking on its edge. "We lived together for about… twenty years, and I got closer to one of them. We ended up being a couple, but not so long after formalizing our relationship, the gunslingers found us and killed her and pretty much everyone in the pack. Only three, including me, could escape."

"You stayed with them after that?", Nish nodded.

"It was the only real family I had.", he smiled, looking at Dumas, who blushed softly. "We moved then to other cities but had to constantly trip since with Trinity, the gunslingers were everywhere and we couldn't do much about it. In those trips, I meet other vampires that ended up being or my friend's couple or mines, but always ended up killed.", he laughed. "It's a karma and I couldn't help it!", Dumas knew he was trying to ease the pain he had deep in his heart by doing those jokes, but he understood him. After all, most of his friends were killed by gunslingers or by Ratatosk himself. "When the real war broke out, I was left alone, again. My group decided to abandon me and join the Lord while I decided to hide or run away from the war until everything cooled down, you know…"

Acuna was left behind quickly. The dense forest that was in the frontier with the coast lands was near, but it was calm. Normally, the people of the coast are always patrolling it since they didn't want any vampire or undead creature in their lands. It wasn't because they hated them, but they didn't have the weapons they needed to fight against them. Only exiled gunslingers or smiths had those weapons but no the materials needed to reproduce them. So instead of whining about that, they offered their services to the coast lands to patrol the frontline from any undead creature that wanted to go to the other side. Several of these creatures ended up killed in the last war when they run desperately to a safer place, but found death at the hands of these gunslingers.

"I can't remember much from my childhood.", said Dumas. "As far as I know, I was turned into a vampire for who knows, and was serving under Ratatosk the next few days.", he sighed. "I think he was the one that transformed me into what I am now…"

"Possibly.", answered Nish. Both of them still had their hands firmly gripped into each other, not wanting to let go. "He gathered humans to use as pawns and experiments inside the castle."

"Oh, yes he did.", Dumas smiled at the memories. "I might have suffered under his hands, but I enjoyed those experiments.", perhaps unburying those painful memories wasn't that bad, after all. "Froggy was in charge of most of them, since Ratatosk trusted his intelligence."

"What kind of experiments run in there?"

"Ratatosk wanted to see how Dark Matter affected the human body if this was shot instead of a vampire biting the human.", answered Dumas. He had spotted a gunslinger near the frontier that has been following them for a while. He wasn't harmful, but had his gun prepared if the vampires wanted to trespass the frontier. "He had a boy jailed up down in the dungeons that used as example for the next experiments since, apparently, was a successfully experiment from an Immortal that lived long ago and was defeated by the last Solar Child."

"So Ratatosk wanted to copy it?", Dumas nodded. "Who was the boy?"

"I don't know. Froggy used to call him Saturday because it was what his name meant, but never could figure it out.", answered the man. "I only saw him once, and in that time he was pretty beaten up and was really thin. I asked Ratatosk why he didn't feed him at last once a day and he told me it wasn't necessary being him an 'immortal'. Honestly, I didn't know to what he was referring until Froggy explained me it was the older brother of the Solar Child, a Moon Child, and Ratatosk needed him to revive the Beast of Destruction."

"Ah, right. Moon Childs are naturally immortal, that's why Ratatosk didn't feed him.", said Nish. "They can survive years without food."

"But not without water.", pointed Dumas out. "Everyday Froggy would bring him a glass of water or any other liquid to let him live long enough until they managed to wake up the beast."

"Well, he could, at last.", joked the albino.

"Indeed he could, and that was the second time I could see the boy.", after walking for a while, they chose to sit on the ground, facing the huge lake. The gunslinger walked closer to them but remained at a safe distance. He had also sat on the ground, with his sniper on his hands. The vampires ignored him. "He was being controlled by the Beast and his hair was longer than Ratatosk's, not being cut in decades. Then, Ratatosk impaling his Puppet Needles in the body of the boy, even when he already have quiet a few of them in him by now, and then into Vanargandr. With it, he could control both of them and do the things he did before Trinity came."

"Oh, boy, that man surely kicked his ass.", said the albino, admiring the starry sky above him. "Even when it was you who killed him."

"I wouldn't stand a chance if Trinity and Lucian hadn't fought with him before."

Nish looked at him, a mischief smile appearing on his face. Dumas didn't like that smile.

"Are you saying that you were weaker than him? Ratatosk's right hand?", the albino started to laugh. "I can't believe it!"

"So what?!", exclaimed Dumas. "At last I was stronger that all his men together."

"You are so amusing.", Nish cuddle up with him and kissed his forehead.

The man purred as he lay upon Dumas, making him fall on the ground. The horned one blushed deeply when Nish started to nibble on his neck, tracing lazy circles with the tip of his hot and wet tongue. The muscle traveled up to his lips, licking them and asking for entrance. Dumas circled Nish's neck with his arms as he opened his mouth to let the tongue slip in, attacking it with his own. But they had to stop suddenly when a massive explosion was heard over the coast lands. Nish stood up and helped Dumas to his feet, watching the gunslinger run back to his home. A mechanical screech was heard in the silence followed by another explosion. Not really caring about the danger that he could face by going to the other side, Nish started to run, following the gunslinger. The former Duke went behind him, not really knowing why he would risk his life by going but then he thought if this… invasion wasn't Oyan's move. He had been quiet for about a week and now suddenly shows up. Could it be he was building some sort of weapon to use against them?

As the run closer, they could see some of the houses burning and the shadow of a giant creature slipping into the sea near the coast. Nish transformed into his full form and Dumas stopped, gasping at the sight. He had four, icy wings that were flexible like bird's ones. Horns grew from his head, six in total, as a helmet covered the surface of his head. The clothes he wore mutated into a thin but tight single piece suit and his shoes disappeared, to be replaced with claws like an eagle; long, sharp and deadly. He wore little armor but that seemed to be enough to protect him and a long, spiked tail grew from his lower back, as well as some spikes on his column, giving him a more fearsome look that was completed by his long hand claws.

Screeching to the creature, Nish flew over the sea, trying to spot it, but the only thing he could see was a pair of light bubbles that looked at him as if he was some sort of animal to be exanimate. The ice vampire dodged a missile that was shot directly to him and then hit the second one with his tail. To his luck, it hit one of the light bubbles. The creature screeched again, possible in pain as Nish thought. Then, they disappeared under the calm sea and Nish couldn't see it anymore, even with his sharp eyes of vampire. Just to be sure, he had stayed over it for at last fifteen minutes until he knew it wasn't coming back.

The ice vampire landed on the soft sands, helping the habitants of the coastlands in freezing down the fire while others used the water from the sea to light it off. Dumas was near him, helping some others in rescuing the ones that were still inside the houses. No one had noticed, or had but didn't say anything under the tight situation, that they were vampires. Once everything calmed down and everyone was reunited again, an old but healthy gunslinger came to them, gun in hand. Behind him, there were three more like him, also ready to fight if they needed to.

"What are your business over here?", asked in a hoarse voice. Dumas could tell he was ill, possibly with Tuberculosis. Since they were so far from the main cities and any other medical attention and since it was too dangerous and expensive bringing the medicines there, it wouldn't surprise him if half of the people had the same disease.

"Help.", answered the former Duke. He hoped that no one could recognize him. "We were walking near the frontier until we heard the explosions."

The old gunslinger grumped.

"What probes you have you aren't that guy's companion? That you aren't sending us a trap?", said, firmly grasping the gun. Dumas could see, also, it was an old model of the solar guns and didn't work anymore on his Casket Armor. He didn't have the plates and all, but the sole thin, black vest was enough to protect him from the solar bullets.

Nish and Dumas looked at each other, not really knowing what to answer.

"I was…", came a voice from the multitude. The gunslinger that was watching over them came out from it. He was covered in ashes and had some minor cuts on his face, arms and legs. Parts of his clothes were burnt. "I was watching over them in the frontier…"

"So? It doesn't mean they are worthy to be trusted!", shouted the old man.

"I'm…!", shouted the man back. "I have seen them going with the gunslingers from our lands… They work with them against Oyan's men."

"What?", said the old man, not believing it. The crowd behind started to murmur under their breaths. "What none senses are you babbling about?! The gunslingers from the Guild still have Trinity---!"

"Trinity's dead.", cut out Dumas, glaring at the old man who shot a dead glare to him. "I—I mean the Duke killed him… eleven years ago."

"You liar!", shouted the man and shooting against Dumas, who didn't move an inch. The bulled bounced on the vest and lost the energy, disappearing in the air. "But you aren't wearing a Casket Armor!!"

"This vest is enough to protect me from the obsolete guns you are holding.", answered the man. "What do you need as proof to believe us? Isn't the word of one of your men enough?"

The old gunslinger looked back at the others. Seemed that everyone was agreeing with what the young man said about them working with the local Guild against Oyan. The man grumped again, putting away his gun.

"I'm Gaspar. I'm the one in charge of this little town.", he gave out his hand and Dumas took it, shaking it softly. "Pleased to meet you."

Both Nish and Dumas bowed at him.

"It's a pleasure for us, too.", said Nish, returning to his normal appearance. "If you have time now, we would ask about what just happened here."

Gaspar nodded and, after whispering some orders to the other men, he showed the two vampires a place near the sea where they could sit and talk quietly as the others started to heal how they could the injured people after the attack.

The sea was unusually calm at that night hours. The waters should be more agitated since that night the Moon's phase was changing and since the waters changed with the Moon, to him and the others it was something to worry about. He and one of the experts in astrology started to investigate when they had heard a loud screech come from the sea. Thinking it could be the spirit of the now deceased Great Earth Serpent, they didn't bother with it. Similar sounds could be heard from the caves near the town. When they heard the same screech again, this time closer and louder, they had stepped back and alerted everyone to stay away and hide somewhere away from the town, but they weren't fast enough. A serpent creature rose from the water and started sending all kind of missiles and bombs that destroyed the houses that touched. The immense light bubbles shot a weird and electrifying power that light in fire other buildings, before slipping into the water, as he sensed the presence of the vampires coming to the coast.

"Do you remember anything else from the creature besides those light bubbles?", asked Dumas, fearing the worst as he started to remember an odd but powerful machine that Froggy used to have back when he was still alive.

"Well… You can see it's pretty dark here.", said Gaspar. "I can only say it was a strange serpent with light bubbles. I haven't seen anything like that before, it was like some sort of machine, or something.", he shrugged. "I think it was green, but I might be wrong."

"Heavens…", whispered the former Duke, standing up, walking to the seas.

"What's up, kid?", asked Gaspar.

"It's the Machine King.", said the man, turning around to face them. "It was Froggy's most powerful invention; he used it against the Solar Child and beat him with it.", Nish sighed heavily as Gaspar grumped again.

"We are fucked up! Completely!"

"Not really… The machine can only travel inside the water, unless Oyan had made it amphibian.", when Gaspar looked at him not understanding, Dumas added. "Meaning it can go over water and ground."

"Oh!", exclaimed the gunslinger. "I imagine there is a way to stop that huge machine, right?"

"It will be… very hard.", admitted Dumas. "That thing can create missiles, bombs and other type of explosives with the Dark Matter storied in the primary system inside it. In other words, if we don't blow up that part of the Machine King, then there is no way we can beat it up."

"We must tell Ernest and Lucian about this, urgently.", said Nish, thinking that the machine could attack other place of the East lands. "And we will need to tell Sheridan to hurry up with those damn armors."

Gaspar looked at them, nervous. Then, he stood up, looking at Dumas.

"We have been so… closed up from the main cities and then so forgotten that we haven't get news from what was happening.", he sighed. "I really had thought the war was still going even after eleven years.", he looked back at the now ruined town. "I don't know if my men…. I don't know if I have enough men to send to the capital and help Ernest with this problem."

Nish smiled.

"It's alright.", said the man, rising to his feet. "We will tell him to send some healers so your people can recuperate after the attack."

"I'm serious, I---We want to help. We had been exiled by the Lord and couldn't step outside this territory because he had the monsters looking up on us.", pleaded Gaspar. "I'm begging you. The last thing old men like us deserves is to free our lands for once from any type of tyranny. We couldn't do it with the Lord, neither with the Duke.", Dumas swallowed hard. It was his fault, once more. "Give us a last chance."

Nish looked at the man, amazed by his strength and courage.

"We will talk with Ernest about it."

"Can we go with you, instead?", suggested the old gunslinger. "It will be faster and easier for both of you."

"I… don't know.", mumbled Dumas, looking at Nish. "I mean… You can but I can't risk having the hideout being discovered."

"I understand.", said Gaspar, even if he already knew the location of it. "Tell him that First in Command Gaspar Fradech wants to talk with him at the edge of the Imperious Lake.", he was about to leave when he remembered something. "For being soldiers for the Guild, you are quiet disrespectful.", the vampires didn't understand. "You haven't introduced yourselves!"

"Oh!", both of them exclaimed at the same time.

"I'm Nish, sorry for not saying it before, it's an old habit."

Gaspar laughed.

"They said habits die hard, eh.", he turned to Dumas and smiled to him. "You don't need to introduce yourself, Duke.", the horned vampire managed to pale at last a bit more than he already was. He instinctually stepped back, going closer to Nish, who was also eyeing the man, giving silent warnings. "I have recognized you by your horns; you are the only one who has them in the East Lands."

"…Why did you trust me after all I have done before and after Ratatosk? Didn't you say you wanted a chance to bring down the tyranny?", said the man.

"Yes, and I still want to.", he turned to the town and, for the first time, both Nish and Dumas could appreciate that the town had not only humans, but also vampires. "I never said I wanted to destroy vampires."

"But, you guys didn't let anyone enter this lands, not even in war, nor human or vampire!", shouted Dumas.

"It was our only protection against the enemy, be it a vampire or a human.", answered Gaspar. "And looking at you now, Duke, I can see you have changed from the man you used to be under Ratatosk's orders. You wouldn't ally with the Guild unless you had asked for something big in return."

Unable to resist, he grinned at the man, showing his white fangs. After saying they were going to bring Ernest to the coast, the vampires slowly returned to the dense forest, leaving behind the burnt town. Gaspar reunited with his comrades and started evaluating the damages made in the houses.

"It was the Duke, wasn't it?", asked the one on his right. Gaspar nodded. "He had changed a lot."

"Indeed he did, Frizt.", replied Gaspar. "I can foresee the peace era that Trinity and the ones before him wanted to bring.", he sighed. "Maybe, if we don't end up dead, we will be able to return home."

And with those hopeful thoughts, the coast people started to rebuild their town.


	20. Chapter 20

**(Fixed some mistakes, Re-Upload.)**

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20

Nidhoggr had returned from the Machine King's test. He had finished a day before but didn't want to try it out during the day. He had waited for the night and, as soon as it fall, and with Oyan's men help, he managed to bring it out from the Guild.

Nidhoggr had made many modifications to his machine. First of all, he had made it amphibian, like Dumas had foreseen, and added more cannons and bombs in the other unused sections. The light bubbles charged up a higher voltage of electricity enough to kill twenty men in a row. The original design had hand and feet to swim properly inside the water when the sections were rectangular and had no mobility. Now, the whole machine was a serpent and could slip like one. The original sections were split and made more sections, completing the whole serpent body, having in each ring one cannon bomb, one of missiles and one of shooting rays. Like this, all over the back. The head wasn't as big and massive as before, but still had the original design. The hands and feet were inside especial compartment that hid it when the machine went under water. But soon Nidhoggr ripped them out seeing no further use in them. Instead, he had created with his alchemy flexible tentacles that were controlled by his will, held inside of each of the machine's sections. If he wanted to move fast the only thing he needed to do, if the King was in a bad shape, was to summon those tentacles and run away.

Once the machine was out the Guild, meaning outside the black barrier, Nidhoggr made a spell to make it camouflage with its surroundings so no one could possibly see it unless he wanted to. He had discussed the locations where he could run a test with it, but Oyan didn't want him to do it far away from the Guild since it was dangerous. Merclar and Recher had taken Oyan to a private place where to talk about the subject. It was Alexander who had suggested, in low voice to Nidhoggr, where he could test it.

"You should go to the coast.", said the wind Terrennial. He had some bandages, like Oyan, covering his still open wounds.

"Why?", said the vampire. Then, he grinned under his mask. "Is there a little town I can terrorize?"

"Yes, there is.", the man returned the smile. "It's pretty small, but no one would ever know that you had passed there since no one remembers it after eleven years."

"Did you know how mean are you?"

"I can be worst than this, trust me."

Nidhoggr laughed softly.

"Well then, the coast it is."

Oyan, after talking with his men, decided it would be safer to do it in Northeast lands, near the desert, which was filled with undead. Nidhoggr agreed and walked inside the machine and started it. The light bubbles lighted up, illuminating everything in a bright light before dimming it. The serpent closed its mouth and started to sneak away from the Guild, moving up rather quick from what everyone expected.

It was a short trip to the coast. Nidhoggr, inside the control room, was watching from a screen everything what was happening outside. He had not only two, but four different cameras recording everything as well as a computer that examinees every creature the machine came across with. Once he found a river he just followed it until he entered to the sea, diving and making one of the explorers go outside and look for him said town that Alexander had told him.

It took him an hour to find it but when he did, he smiled widely. He had forgotten how it was to use his machine and it felt a little awkward, but his machine didn't forget him at all, as it screeched, slowly going to the water's surface. Just meters away, it screeched again and Nidhoggr targeted some of the houses on the beach, seeing how the men were trying to run away from the coast but his missiles were faster than them. He raised the machine's head and fired some of the electricity from the light bubbles to light on fire some of the buildings, watching the people try to run away and other trying to help the ones that were captured by it. What he didn't know was that the Duke and his parent were around the area. Nidhoggr surprised himself when he saw a similar creature like the one that flew over the barrier came from the ground. He smiled. So, that was the full form of the Duke's partner… The computer started to show up the information about the vampire and the boy hummed when reading his element. Ice. It was a rare element within vampires.

Not wasting anymore time, he shot some missiles that the vampire easily dodged, one of them was hit back and exploded on one of the light bubbles. Screeching, the serpent submerged in the water, only leaving its eyes out from it. After Nidhoggr saved up all the information that he needed from this enemy, he left with the machine. Returning on the same path he had took, he returned to the Guild and put the machine once more inside the black barrier where it recuperated its normal appearance.

"Back so soon?", said Oyan when he saw the boy walk in the Guild.

"Well, they were small test for the machine so, yes.", he answered, flopping down on a couch and then crossing his legs. "It was fast since I only had to see if the computers and the main system worked."

The boy looked at the leader, covered with some bandages and aid bands. After the fight he had with Alexander to see if he could stay, they hadn't stopped fighting and training. Oyan had liked the new member quiet a lot since he was a true warrior, as Nidhoggr often heard him when he talked about Alexander. But couldn't figure who he was yet, and that was still trilling him and his magnificent brain. He had looked up everywhere, but there were no records of a man like Alexander existing ever. Nidhoggr was starting to think it was either a spirit or one of the Terrennials but without proofs, he couldn't come to any conclusion.

That week was pretty calm as Oyan decided to not make any move to let the enemy also relax before giving the first hit and start the real fight. Now that the machine was finished, he could start his plan in slowly spreading his men around the cities, especially Acuna, and then break into the homes to start the massacre. He wasn't going to have mercy for anyone. The humans that allied with vampires were as guilty as them. Oyan still remembered the pain he had felt back then, in his childhood, when one of them killed both his grandfather and father in front of his mother and himself. But he was hiding; the vampire didn't know he was there at all. It was revenge, as he said. He dropped the dead bodies on the ground, leaving his mother crying over her husband, while the vampire walked away, cleaning up the blood from his hands with a white tissue and dropping it on the ground after.

He couldn't sleep after that horrifying scene. He had nightmares, he had this wound opened in his heart, in his soul. The North land had vampires living in it, but in a separated part of it, even when both races still talked to each other but, after that day, Oyan couldn't see vampires the same. Their skin, their fangs, their claws, their eyes, their ears, their bloodlust, their strength, their powers… They were monsters! His grandfather often told him that they were going to be the ones ending the human race, to reduce it to rotten meat drying under the hot sun if the didn't take it away first. And after that, he started believing it. At the age of seven, he listed in the local Guild even when his mother didn't approve it, not really knowing why her only son wanted to do something like that when her family was also related to vampires. Just when she found out the real reason behind it, it was late. Oyan was already twenty year old and was the new leader of the Guild. When he had accepted the charge, that same night he hunted vampires in his homeland, killing over seven hundred of them. Plenty of them managed to escape, but found their dead when the gunslingers outside the territory waited for them and killed them right there.

That was the beginning of his plan of liberating the planet from every undead creature that dared to walk on it. But he couldn't have known that Ratatosk was a hard opponent. Half of the men died when he tried to attack the Puppeteer in his own castle. Using Vanargandr's power, Ratatosk killed them all and cursed the North lands with a never-ending wave of undead creatures appearing from the shadows and the ground, that now that he is dead, it's still working. He wanted to kill him, but Dumas did it before he could spread his men a second time. A few years later, Saturday joined them as he was a little boy with no home or parents who would miss him. Oyan let him stay if he worked for him as a spy after seeing how brilliant his brain was. That's how he had known the situation in the East lands. The last war left the local Guild with no members left, and then the last one with the Duke reduced it even more. The Dark Swordsman went training but came as almost a vampire and then the ones that could survive from both wars started to return to the East lands, most of them were vampires. Oyan wasn't going to let that happen. A city where vampires and human lives together? Not a chance. He didn't want to happen what happened in his homeland.

Nidhoggr had told him that Ernest was desperately looking up for Aaron, Trinity's only son, after he had run off with Lucian. Oyan understood Ernest perfectly. He would worry too if the kid that he raised from little run away behind a vampire's trail. But couldn't just wait for him to call him and ask for help so, after some days deliberating about what to do, Oyan finally picked up the phone and talked with Ernest about giving him a hand with the Guild, seeing what happened in the last two wars. Hiding his real intentions of invading the East lands to kill every vampire living there, Oyan and a group of his men traveled from the North to Acuna and then to Old Culiacan, where he had reunited with Ernest, who talked with him and thanked him the help. Oyan could tell the man was nervous and worried about the boy so he offered his help once more, saying they were going to find him. Ernest had soon discovered his main reason for coming here but it was late; Oyan had taken control of the Guild and the ones that resisted to him ended up dying. Only with Bea's infiltration knowledge the remaining ones could escape. She and the others met up in the hideout and obliged them to stay there until they could find Aaron, and hoping the North gunslingers hadn't found him first.

He was slowly succeeding. The man smiled. And now with the new acquisition, referring to Alexis, he was sure he was going to win this fight. He was such a strong warrior, if not the strongest he had ever seen. After the encounter from last week, he and Alexis trained almost everyday. Oyan couldn't get tired of him and his surprises that held inside. Recher and Merclar were terrible jealous of the new guy and Oyan noticed it, but didn't say anything. It was fun to see how those two tried every time to surpass Alexis in any way, but not having nice results. The last time that Recher had a match with him, and not the one from last week, he was close of losing his right arm if it hadn't been for Nidhoggr that helped the poor man from the crazed warrior. Recher wasn't still fully recovered but at last had the other arm to fight with. If not, Oyan had to send him back home, as a useless man like him was no good in his army.

"What did you do with the library?"

Oyan blinked, walking away from his thoughts. He looked up and saw an equally bandaged Alexander standing in front of him with his eyebrows frowned.

"The library?", repeated the man.

"Yes, that place where you put books on the bookshelves…."

"I know what a library is.", said Oyan, angry. Nidhoggr giggled but he was ignored. "We moved it, you could say."

Alexander arched his eyebrows but then frowned again.

"You better had not trashed the books!"

"Of course not!", yelled Oyan. "I'm not that barbarian! They are in the basement from the south part of the Guild."

"Your men better hadn't trashed any of them.", warned before walking off.

Oyan looked at Nidhoggr.

"What's his problem?", but the boy shrugged.

Alexander walked to the entrance of the Guild and then keep going south, finding a closed door that lead to the underground basements. He turned on the lights and closed the door behind him when he had stepped on the stairs. He did wanted to read, but also had found a way to send his messenger spirits without Nidhoggr finding them. Alexander remembered that one of the basements had a small ventilation duct that connected to the exterior. If he finds it, then he was probably going to success on his plan. He had to do it quickly. Oyan was close in starting the war, and Alexander couldn't risk that Lucian and Aaron thought he had betrayed them.

When reached the bottom, he turned on the lights in the room and groaned. All the books he had seen in the library were piled up all over the ground. And they were quiet a lot. Alexander put his hands behind his head, looking around, trying to see how he was going to do to find the ventilation duct without moving the books too much, because if he did, then he was going to suffer a lot when they land on his back and head. Sighing heavily, he started to move carefully between the high piles of books. One or two waved when Alexander lightly touched them and he was praying that the tallest ones didn't want to fall. He couldn't understand how the soldiers made them so high. Was it because a bet to see who managed to make the tallest pile without it falling under it's own weight?

Finally, he could reach the wall but saw, with disillusion, that it wasn't the right one. Grumbling some bad words under his breath, he moved out from there and went to the left one, slipping between the piles. He wasn't that lucky this time. One of his foot kicked the books and the higher ones fall on his head, shoulders and finally, to the ground.

"Ow!", shouted the Terrennial, whimpering. "That really hurt!"

"What book are you looking for?", came the spy's voice from the stairs.

Alexander cursed. Why he had to show up in a time like this? He was about to put his plan in action!

"Entropy.", answered the man.

Nidhoggr arched his eyebrows.

"I didn't see you as a man from Physics.", said as he walked carefully between the piles of books.

"It's not about Physics.", Alexander turned around, smiling. "It's about random stories."

"Oh, I see…"

The Terrennial wondered why the spy would come downstairs, particularly to that basement. Could it be he was trying to find out whom he was? Was he waiting for an opening, finding him unaware, creating some sort of spell that would reveal his identity? Well, most spell casters and vampires could use the power of the Wind at their will, so the spy relating him to a possible Terrennial were low, but still high enough for Alexander to guard each of his own moves. Nidhoggr picked up a book from the shortest piles and left. The Terrennial sighed as he kept looking on the wall's surface, trying to find the duct from where he could work. He couldn't found it. Going through the piles over again, he exanimate the last wall but with the same result; nothing. Apparently, that basement wasn't the one having the duct as he thought, and the visits to the other ones were restricted to him. Oyan had said that the new member couldn't go there, since they stored the weapons, armors, shields and other stuff in one of them. Even when Oyan liked him, he couldn't risk losing half of his men if Alexander decided to return to his old friends.

The Terrennial returned to the surface with the book he had been 'looking' for. He went to the cafeteria and sat on one of the empty tables. Everyone was inside the Guild, but was either sleeping or doing nothing. He hadn't seen Oyan, Recher, Merclar or the spy in his way here. Maybe they were discussing when they were going to attack. He just hoped it wasn't that night or tomorrow. He still needed to tell the boys about his infiltration and how things were going to be from now. And hadn't a plan yet. He looked at the book and sighed. He had already read it five times.

The next day Oyan reunited his men inside the black barrier, where Machine King rested when Nidhoggr didn't use it. The leader told them he had decided to start the war the following day, at noon, where the Sun's light was stronger, bringing every vampire out and letting them die under it. The soldiers screamed in happiness, wanted to fight badly, but Alexander bit his bottom lip. It was a tragedy! He should have kept away the thoughts of Oyan wanting to fight soon! Oh, the disgrace! How he was going to react when Lucian and Aarons sees him in the other band? Would they think he is there to retrieve information about them, or would they think he had betrayed them? The wind Terrennial gripped his teeth. It was the worst decision he had ever done.

The soldiers started to prepare the weapons, testing them and seeing which ones needed to be repaired urgently. Each one took their own shield, putting them over their beds. Alexander helped in preparing the weapons, but with no motivation at all. Fighting against your friends without them knowing you that the enemy didn't know if was the enemy…

That day passed very slowly. When they finished with the weapons and everything, it was already four in the afternoon. He didn't want to talk with anyone and couldn't walk outside the Guild yet so he stayed inside the room he shared with another rookie, Máximo, who was only two years older than Aaron. The boy was nice and a quiet roommate. Alexander was thankful for that as he could lay on the bed he had made with an old mattress, sheets and blankets and a single pillow, to relax and think of problems like how the hell he was going to advice his friends in time. Yes, he was still thinking and his brain was already aching at how much he was thinking and how little answers he was getting.

"What's up?", asked Máximo. It was rare for him to ask, but Alexander understood that since he was young, he was concerned about his comrade. The boy came into the Guild last year and was still getting used to things around there. The Wind Terrennial sighed as he imagines the boy's miserable life.

"Just worried, that's all.", it wasn't a completely lie, but he had to be careful. He was seeing it was hard to put up a mask and be someone he wasn't.

"About tomorrow?", Alexander nodded. "I'm scared.", admitted Máximo. "It's… my first real battle, you know.", he laid on his bed and looked at the ceiling. He was just a bit taller than Aaron, with tanned skin and short, black hair. His cobalt blue eyes were something that the Terrennial found interesting, as they sparkled with life, just like Aaron's. "I don't know if the patrolling missions we did back in home will… well…"

"You will do fine.", comforted the man.

Máximo sighed.

"I don't really accept the fact that Leader just runs away, leaving his men behind… It's like… not appreciating what they have done for him so far.", said the boy. His weapon, consisting in a cannon very similar to Bea's one but that shots bombs instead of missiles, was resting on the wall, hanging from a hook. "What if I fall and no one decides to help me?"

"I will be there, don't worry.", Alexander saw that weird face that Máximo only did when someone wasn't right. "What?"

"Didn't leader tell you? Neither you or the spy are going to tomorrow's fight.", answered the boy.

"WHAT?!", screamed Alexander, panicking. How come he wasn't going?! Máximo jumped on the bed, startled at the scream and quickly replied:

"Y-Yeah, he said that you were going to be his last resort or something about that…"

"When he said that?!", Alexander was now on his feet, prepared to run to Oyan an demand an explanation. "It couldn't be in today's reunion, I was there!"

"Well, he did… Don't say you were, because you weren't!", exclaimed the boy, sitting on the bed. "You were spacing out!!"

Alexander opened his mouth, but didn't reply. Instead, he calmed down.

"Oh…"

"Yes, that's why you haven't heard about that.", Máximo stood up, too. "We were surprised, too, to hear him say it, but he must have a real reason behind it."

"He is going to use me and the spy when, probably, he's out of soldiers to sacrifice.", came his response, angry at the man like Máximo was.

"Don't say that…"

"Why not?"

"I'm going to fight tomorrow!!"

"…..Oh, right."

When night fall and the last group returned from their patrolling, Alexander went straight towards Oyan's office, the one that used to belong to Ernest. Oyan was tired from that night but was still up. Alexander sat in front of him and asked why he wasn't going to fight tomorrow, and the leader said it wasn't his time yet, that he needed him and the spy in the Guild as reinforcements, since he had a lightly sensation that Ernest was going to send some of his allies to the building to see if he could bring him down from the inside out. The Terrennial nodded, asking when he was going to fight for real. Oyan smiled at his enthusiasm and answered that he would when he thought it was the final battle to show his last cards under his sleeves.

Alexander left the office and, seeing it was already eleven in the evening, he decided to call it a day and went to his room, flopped on the bed and slept.

He was waked up by a lot of steps noises echoing in the hallway. The door of his room was closed and when he lifted his head, he found that Máximo was preparing himself for battle. Alexander rose from the bed, rubbing his eyes and putting his now free hair behind his back. The man palmed the boy's back and smiled to him when he turned around.

"Morning, pal.", said Alexander, looking up for the hairbrush that was lying somewhere. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I'm going to crap up my pants anytime.", admitted, giving the man the hairbrush that was just in front of him. "I'm really scared."

"I told you, you will be fine.", said as he started to comb his hair, the little band around his wrist. "You know how to use your weapon, how to fight."

"I know, but practices and hunting are a different thing to… wars.", Máximo sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. "Besides, Leader's plan is not exactly the most… good one."

"I know, I know.", Alexander finished doing his usual ponytail. He grabbed the eyeliner and the shadow eye he used to wear. "Follow your instincts, trust your abilities, don't underestimate yourself.", suggested as he sat in front of the mirror to see himself as he started to put the make up.

"Thanks.", mumbled the boy, seeing if his weapon had enough charge. "I know it might be sound silly but, don't you have a lucky trinket?"

"Mm, sometimes.", said the Terrennial. "Why you ask? You have one?", Máximo shook his head. "I see.", Alexander put his hand in the pocket of the uniform and, using his wind magic, took out from it a cord necklace with four feathers; one white, one black, one purple and one yellow. Then there were also little orbs matching the colors of the feathers. He tossed it to Máximo and the boy looked at it.

"What's this?", asked, eyeing the strange feathers.

"White represents pureness. Black is death. Purple is wisdom and yellow it's intelligence.", explained Alexander as he finished putting the make up on. "A pure warrior doesn't fear Death, as his previous experiences makes it strong and smart to each new challenge.", recited as he turned around and smiled to Máximo.

The boy put it around his neck.

"Thanks again.", they heard Oyan calling everyone in the field and the boy stood up, grabbing his weapon. He sighed. Alexander saw him tremble a bit. "I will see you later."

"Later. And you better bring that necklace back or I will personally kill you.", Máximo giggled under his breath as he walked to the door, shaking his head.

Máximo exited the room, closing the door behind him. The Terrennial could feel his doubts and nervousness but then they disappeared. Perhaps it was going to be the last time he saw that boy.

Alexander went to the roof, seeing everyone leaving. The spy was also watching them leave, next to him, feeling the soft breezes blowing up there. It was a strange sight since the Terrennial never felt so nervous. He didn't know what to expect from them man or from Ernest, he didn't know how they were going to react when both of them were face to face. He had been so inside this whole thing but also so left out of it, too. He felt he couldn't do anything.

"You never told me the name you are using here.", said Nidhoggr to Alexander when the soldiers were lost in sight.

"You never told me yours.", replied the man. "How is it?"

"Froggy."

"Alexis."

Nidhoggr took off the mask and sighed.

"Well, we are going to be pretty much alone with Merclar and Recher until Oyan is back."

"You mean we are going to be pretty much bored.", said Alexander. "We don't know if they are going to be outside all day or for two, or three, seeing you must have gave them some drugs.", Nidhoggr laughed. "I'm serious. I bet they will be stay awake for a whole week."

The boy laughed again and left the roof. Alexander stayed there, enjoying the Sun's bright light, thinking what he was going to do the rest of the days seeing that the only ones that were staying were him, Nidhoggr, Merclar, Recher, and a few other soldiers, to which he didn't like to talk at. The Terrennial seemed that, even when it was his enemy, the spy was a nice guy to talk with, having interesting things to say. The rest of the gunslingers were pretty much barbarians, warriors that didn't know anything else but fight. Alexander would love to sit and talk with them, but he expected them to not know the stuff he does. He had lived long enough to know about almost everything, the knowledge flowing like wind each time he talked about something.

Alexander opened his eyes to the sky, the wind softly playing with his hair. He looked around and saw the tree's leaves dancing in the breezes. He smiled. How he hadn't thought of that before? Each time he was thinking how to warn Lucian about his condition, he was always thinking in a physical way. He was the Wind Terrennial, why not use the wind to delivery his message? How silly he was all this time! Alexander just hoped that the spy would not feel his energy while creating the breeze it would deliver said message, but if he didn't say anything when he made that necklace for Máximo, chances were that he couldn't feel this either.

It was a lightly more powerful energy so Alexander looked around and even went down some stairs to see than the spy wasn't hiding somewhere. Knowing that he could see through the dark barrier, the man sat on the floor in order for the spy to not see him what he was doing. Once he felt he was ready, Alexander summoned his energy. His hands turned claws as a weird purple fire appeared on them, covering them completely. The man whispered some words concerning his quotidian life inside the Guild, about Oyan, about the spy. Fearing someone could come, Alexander finished doing this message and the purple fire disappeared but as soon as it did, a winged and razor wind appeared over the building and went straight forwards at high speed, creating a wild whirlwind behind it. The man smiled as the figure faded into the horizon.


	21. Chapter 21

**(Fixed some mistakes, Re-Upload.)**

**I'm terrible sorry for not uploading this chapter in time. I had some stressful things coming with school, but now I can say it's finally over and can start my summer break, giving complete attention to this story, which is coming out better than I expected. I have prepared more chapters that I will eventually upload every 15 or 20 days, in other words, once or twice a month, depending on my mood. Just be patient, the best part of this is about to come. XD**

**Thanks to:**

**Kemeno and lady-of-destruction-aria for sending those yummy reviews, and to those who are reading it and I'm not aware of it. DX Please, leave your comments about anything you want, except flaming, as stated in first chap.**

**I will not hold you back anymore, seeing it's almost 5 am here and I'm dying for a bed.**

**Enjoy!!**

* * *

21

The soldiers were marching down the principal street of Acuna. They were all carrying their weapons, charged already, prepared to shot and kill. They were all prepared to die, if they needed to, but bring down as many vampires as they could. They were all behind Oyan, who was looking around for any enemy that might want to attack by surprise, but they had it all prepared. They were all prepared to what it was going to come.

The desert street was going to be covered in blood and ashes soon. There was going to be an ugly fight in minutes. Chaos will soon explode, everyone was going to run at whatever direction seemed to take, they were going to be confused, scared, angry, mad, but their end was going to be the same; a pile of ashes. Oyan was with his eyes fixed in front of him, in the houses, in the roof, in the closed windows, in the closed doors, in the no presence of anyone in there. The street, the battlefield was all his. He was going to conquer it before his enemy could; he was going to have advantage over him. The vampires never had a chance. He and his soldiers were going to succeed, if it wasn't today, it will be tomorrow or the day after.

Everyone gasped and jumped in surprise when a powerful wind blast passed above their heads. Everyone lifted their guns, some of them even shot, thinking it was the enemy attacking, some of them covered with the shields. Only Oyan was still on his feet, no weapon in hand, watching the strange formation of wind turn to the left and disappear behind a building. What was it? Was it an attack? Was it a patrolling spirit of any sort? Was the enemy already aware of their presence? Oyan started to walk again. He didn't care; he was going to win anyway. Why he should care that they were being watched? They could do nothing about it! He was already there, in the battlefield, with his men, with himself, with his weapons, with their armors, with their shields, with the Sun at their side. He wasn't afraid, he wasn't scared, he didn't fear Death. He was a strong man, a though one.

"What's that sound, Leader?", asked someone behind him.

Oyan, not aware of what sound he was talking about, he asked about it and the soldier said they should shut up and listen, as he swore he heard something. Oyan made everyone shut up and moved his ears, trying to catch said sound. Everyone was doing the same, looking around, pointing with their weapons, some of them using their scope of their long-range weapons to see anyone the others couldn't.

And then, they heard. It was faint, but it was there. It sounded like a small screech… No, like metal… Like metal being dragged across a stoned floor, like some kind of piece of metal or a weapon that was dragged around, as if was too heavy to be lifted. Oyan looked around. He saw no one yet the sound was there. From where it came? Dismissing the original plan he had about storming into each house and kill every vampire living there, he got interested in the sound. He ordered that a group came with him while the other stayed there and started to divide itself in smaller ones and start with the plan already. As they did, Oyan continued to walk forwards, the soldiers following. They were lightly nervous about what was happening. The fights they had in the North lands against the vampires were anything to this. They just went forwards and killed everyone, but the North was smaller than the East. Acuna was huge and also an old city. They could hide anywhere and they could look everywhere and not find them ever.

The temperature started to rise softly as the Sun reached its maximum spot in the sky. The soldiers were already sweating, not for the warm temperatures, but for excitement and nervous, stress. Some of them, rookies, were scared. The others, veterans, were getting impatient. Where was the enemy? What was that annoying sound that seemed to come from everywhere? They walked blocks and saw no one, until they found another street crossing the main one.

"Leader…", said another soldier to his left. Oyan looked at him, and the man was facing to the other side of the crossing street. "There, you see him?"

Oyan turned around and, saw with surprise, that a not very tall boy was walking towards them, holding something in his right hand. He was wearing normal clothes but also could see a strange suit covering his arms and legs, wondering what it could be. The boy was wearing a cap but it wasn't Trinity's son, nor was it the Duke or Ernest, or anyone from the local Guild. As the boy walked closer, they found it was a vampire and what he was carrying was nothing else but the Dark Sword Vanargandr.

The soldiers gasped and murmured between each other when they noticed the dangerous and powerful sword. But if it wasn't the real Dark Swordsman who was wielding it, who was it? Was it a vampire that worked with them, or was the same Swordsman morphing into another appearance to fool them? Oyan calmed his men down as he started to walk towards the boy, having a few soldiers coming with him, just in case.

That annoying sound was killing their ears. The sword was too heavy for the boy to carry, so he was dragging it without care onto the stoned floor. But then, he stopped and so did Oyan and the others. They took their weapons in hand, as did the others behind. The vampire disappeared inside his own shadow, leaving the sword on the floor, in the middle of the street. Everyone was confused. Why he would leave such treasure alone like that? They could use it against the vampires if they ever had a hold in it. One of the soldiers went closer to it, looking the houses, seeing if anyone was expecting him to reach and grab it. But no one came out to attack. All was unusually quiet, for some reason.

"It's not doing anything.", said the man once he reached the sword. He even touched it with the tip of his right feet, but the sword didn't do anything. The usual red eye was empty, was grey, as no energy was flowing in it.

"Bring it over here.", ordered Oyan. "We might be able to use it later. Perhaps Saturday can do something with it…"

As the man finished saying the sentence, the sword's eye opened and shone in a very bright red light, scaring the soldier besides it, who runs back to his pack. The object levitated in the air, standing up straight, Dark Matter flowing from its body, turning it completely black. Said Dark Matter started to morph and, when Oyan saw what it was slowly turning into, ordered to attack and everyone took their weapons and shot the solar bullets towards the strange object. The sword created a shield around itself where the bullets bounced on it. Desperate, some of them threw grenades to it. When they exploded, they damaged the shield, that started to break, but the sword was taking another form. It was now beast shaped, and was slowly growing bigger and bigger, until it got his maximum height. With horror, the gunslingers saw how the eight red eyes of the wolf like creature opened, watching, sniffing the air, perking its ears. His long tail swung back and forth, as he opened the mouth, showing the teeth and sharp fangs. Something was not right, something that they haven't thought of was happening.

"The Beast…", a veteran said. "It's the Beast of Destruction, its Vanargandr itself!"

The wolf roared and launched to the group, not wasting time in attacking. The shocked men reacted late, as the beast already stood over them, killing with his paws and eating as many as he could. It felt the solar bullets hitting its body, burning it, but they were like mosquito bites thought not harmful, annoying. The grenades were a pain as a few of them exploded on his body, dealing important damage, but Vanargandr wasn't going to let them reach its master's hideout.

Oyan could not believe it. He didn't know that Lucian could bring each sacred Beast from within his weapons. He knew that they were sealed in each of them, but this thing couldn't be possible! The bearer needed to have an enormous power to summon them. If Lucian could, then it means the man was a lot stronger than Oyan thought. The war was not going to end as quickly as he thought. Just as he was going to shout some orders, another explosion dragged his attention, and froze in his place as he saw a giant winged snake roaring in pain when a grenade was threw to it. The snake was a pale pink, it had eight red eyes like the wolf, had some wings and markings on its back. The jaw didn't open like normal ones; it did from side to side… It was Jormungandr, the Great Earth Snake! Lucian could bring to life two monstrous beasts to life using his powers! How strong was him?

Just as he thought it would be worst shadows started to come from inside the houses and from the roofs, going after the remaining gunslingers that Vanargandr couldn't kill. They were the vampires; the vampires were showing at already but at a very, very, very bad time. His men couldn't concentrate in both Vanargandr and the vampires. Not letting this surprise factor shock him anymore, Oyan grabbed his weapon and waited for the vampires to pop up from the ground but he noticed, with anger, that it wasn't the vampires. They were Ghouls. Ghouls were the ones coming from the floor but died as the Sun hit them, turning to ashes in mere instants, but killing some of his men. Oyan started to kill them as they came out from the floor, not giving them time for anything.

Everything was coming out bad. The things they had foreseen weren't happening and things not planned or even thought were happening. Oyan knew he had underestimated the enemy and now was paying the price. But all bad things had their good side, and at that moment the humans from Acuna showed up, holding normal weapons or even rocks came from behind him, screaming at the wolf and the Ghouls. When they came to the fight, they started to kill the Undead, attacking Vanargandr with the rocks and water, which burned the skin of the beast, electing pain screeches from it, stepping backwards when even drops touched it. Oyan was glad that the reinforcements came in the right time. He united to the fight too, shooting towards the beast, seeing how it was trying to hide. Vanargandr, seeing it was useless now, run away, being followed by the humans and some gunslingers still shooting.

Oyan took his radio out asking how the situation with Jormungandr was. The beast killed almost everyone but it was retreating without reason at all. Oyan supposed it was following Vanargandr. He told them to follow the snake and cut the transmission, as he yelled to every of his men to stand up and follow the humans going after Vanargandr still. Maybe they had taken Oyan of surprise, but he wasn't going to be intimidated by it. His army was ten times better than theirs, that's for sure.

Jormungandr disappeared in mid air as Vanargandr did, not leaving traces behind them. Frustrated, Oyan reunited the men that survived the attack. Máximo was one of them. He had light cuts, scratches and some bruises on his arms and legs. His uniform now was dirty and lightly torn over his knees. But besides that, he was fine. The necklace was still resting on his chest. The boy was a bit scared after he had fought with the Great Earth Snake and thought they were all going to die, but as Vanargandr decided to run away, Jormungandr followed.

"I don't get it!", said Oyan, to the representative of the humans helping him. "You told me the vampires were hiding here, in their homes!"

"We thought it too!", said the other, Andasós, as he sighed, angrily. He also expected those monsters to be in their place. "We woke up early, before even the Sun rose and started to search, but all houses are empty!", he put his hands over his sides. "Could it be Ernest's move?"

"Possibly.", answered Oyan. "Thought I don't know how they could know about it.", the man looked at the survivors of his army, thinking.

"Could it be the new member?", asked one of his men.

"I don't think so, Saturday was watching over him all the time as I ordered him to.", he sighed, putting his weapons inside the case belt around his hips. "This is too strange.", he turned to Andasós. "You say that the houses were empty when you searched?"

"All of them. Before the Sun rose! I think Ernest had either evacuated them or they are going to fight against us."

"They are going to fight, that's for sure. The only ones that will not are going to are women and children; it's my closest guess for now."

"We are going to search in the Aqueduct.", suggested Andasós. "It was very used by vampires to hide, since it's pretty big and dark."

"What other places could they use to hide?"

Andasós opened his arms.

"Everywhere.", answered. "Here in Acuna, Thirteenth Street, Old Culiacan, New Culiacan, the Dark Castle… There are underground tunnels too, but I only know a few of them."

"That will take you all day, right?", the man nodded. "There is a high chance vampires will make their move tonight."

"We aren't going to do it by night!", shouted Andasós. "We are humans that had no training in hunting during the night like your people."

"Any of you know the Rising Sun grenades?", asked Oyan.

"The what?", asked Andasós.

"Rising Sun grenades.", answered one from the crowd. He walked forwards until meeting with Andasós and Oyan. "I have a few of them, and in the Sanctum, under the Hunting Mansion, there even more."

"What are you talking about?"

"They are a very old type of grenade, from about thirty or forty years ago. When they explode, they create a very bright light, a piece of the Sun in a little vase that can light our field for around a minute or so.", explained Oyan. "If we can hold all of them, we might be able to fight a bit, but if you don't want to, that's alright."

Andasón and the others weren't convinced about it, but either way they lend them a map where he could find the grenades he wanted. Oyan thanked it and watched them leave, turning to his men and saying they were going to stay in the city. When night fell, they were going to be prepared to attack. As they divided themselves in small groups, Oyan picked up his mobile and called Saturday to explain him the situation they had in hands.

Alexander woke up by a ringing bell. He was lying on the couch, sprawled on it, sleeping. He rarely sleep during the afternoon, but having nothing else to do in the now empty Guild the couch called him to take a little nap, one that he was enjoying but the annoying sound disturbed. As it continued, he groaned loudly, moving, putting his feet on the floor and sitting on the couch, rubbing his eyes. Before he could say or do anything, Nidhoggr was already up. He was also sleeping on a couch, and picked up the call. He asked who it was and opened his eyes widely at hearing what Oyan said.

"What?!", yelled the boy. He wasn't wearing his mask now he was with Alexander. Besides, the other gunslinger didn't seem to like spending time with them, so he was safe with the Terrennial. "How? I mean… Yes…", the Terrennial grew interested in the chat and stood up, walking towards the boy and sitting next to him, putting his ear next to the phone. Nidhoggr watched him but didn't mind. "I understand, yes...", he sighed, rubbing his eyes. Alexander was smiling, happy to hear that Lucian could fool Oyan like he just did. "Alright. Alright, I will, don't worry.", the Terrennial started to giggle and Nidhoggr hit him on the arm, putting his finger on his lips, telling him to shut up. "I will, I will.", he hung up and sighed angrily. "Your fucking partner can summon the Beasts!! How in hell he can do it?", asked, putting the phone inside his pocket.

"By training a lot a little after they had conquered the Vambery.", answered Alexander, stills smiling something that the boy disliked right now. "By mastering them, he was able also to summon the beast sealed inside."

"But he couldn't have a lot of power, even now that he is a vampire. Summoning those Beasts is very, very hard and no ordinary creature can do it. Even when he can wield those Dark Weapons, they would eat his power each time he summons them.", said Nidhoggr. "He must have another power source."

"I don't know anything about a second source of power.", said the Terrennial. "I only know that he can do it. How? I don't know."

"Oyan also told me that there were no vampires in Acuna, which they all left. How they could anticipate it? Even if you sent the information, they couldn't change the plans so fast.", Alexander shrugged. "You know and will not tell me?"

"I honestly don't know."

"Heavens, it's like they had…. Eyes in the sky, or something.", mumbled the boy as he got up and went to his machine to find answers to Oyan's questions.

When Alexander was left alone, the man was smiling widely. He had completely forgotten about it. Eyes in the sky! The satellite! Sunflower Girl Alice lived in the satellite and had cameras that monitored everything from the space. With her help, they could have easily predicted Oyan's moves from above but, how she was able to listen too? The cameras only recorded videos without sound due to the huge distance between the satellite and the planet. The only way to do it was if there were microphones inside the Guild, but Oyan would have registered the entire building once he broke into it. Or he couldn't have done it. There was a chance that he hadn't done it and there were still microphones hiding in the walls, ceiling, floor, furniture, books, everywhere. Bea was a very intelligent woman and was very good at hiding, infiltrating, doing what usual spies does but without being one herself. She might have hid the microphones and then Alice caught their signal to hear it and record it inside the satellite.

It was fantastic. He hadn't really thought of that. Alexander started to wonder if she could see through the black barrier with her cameras and alert the others about Machine King, as he remembered that he hadn't put it in the message. How careless he was. Such important thing and he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to do it again now that Nidhoggr was awake. He did it once, but he was lucky and he didn't want to bet on it.

Alexander decided to go with Nidhoggr to spend some time, since he was bored to his bones, and perhaps see what was going to do Oyan that night. He heard something about it but couldn't decipher it all. He hoped that, after this, the man reconsidered in sending him along with Nidhoggr to do something, but Oyan wanted to see what was going to do the enemy first. After all, he had more soldiers prepared in the north to come and keep fighting.

"He is staying in Acuna.", answered Nidhoggr when Alexander asked. Both of them were inside the Machine King. The boy sitting in the single chair in front of the computer and the Tarrennial was on the floor, leaning on the wall, watching him work. "Half of the group managed to survive and, knowing how is him, he will sacrifice them if necessary."

"Ah, so many lives being trashed out so meaningless.", whispered the man, sighing.

"You are a killer too. I would have loved you if you had killed Recher.", Alexander giggled as Nidhoggr growled. "I hate that fat man. He is as useless as Merclar."

"I might be a natural killer, a perfect assassin, but I don't kill just for fun or because I don't care anything else. I kill with reasons."

"So, when you don't need me anymore you will try to do it?", said the boy, turning his spinning chair to face the man, who nodded. "Nice.", he returned to his work. "So, Lucian is able to summon Vanargandr and Jormungandr. Is he able to summon Hel, too?"

"Possibly, seeing that those two are the strongest."

Nidhoggr hummed. Oyan had asked him to see whatever information he could gather about the Beasts and a way to deal with them, but the things he found where old legends, nothing too specific. Surprisingly, Alexander helped him a bit and after searching for a good while, he found out that Jormungandr needed to be sealed in the Spiral Tower, since it was the natural place in where it was sealed by the Solar Tribe centuries ago. But Spiral Tower disappeared under the Dark Castle, and Nidhoggr wondered if the castle could be a replace for the once higher tower that rested there. Vanargandr was harder. All the things he needed where on the Moon itself, and the cannon that once could bring you there was destroyed by Ratatosk when he grasped control over it using Sabata as a sacrifice. In other words, there was nothing Oyan could do to stop them rather than killing Lucian, or at last capturing him and disabling his powers over the Beasts.

He wasn't going to be happy after hearing the news. Oyan will have to, for the first time, think before doing anything from now on. He was truly underestimating the enemy and if he keeps working this way, then he will end up killed. Tonight was going to be a decisive night.

They couldn't do much after Oyan called and Nidhoggr told him what he had found and suggestions for the next fight. As he predicted, the man got angry seeing he couldn't do anything about the Beasts, seeing that Lucian was most likely going to use them again that night. He asked to tell Merclar to call to the North Guild and prepare a second migration, since he was going to need more soldiers. Alexander wasn't sure if it was a good idea, but didn't say anything to the leader, fearing to anger him more. Nidhoggr said the same thing, but it was a direct order and couldn't ignore it. After talking with Merclar, they stayed on the roof, watching how the last sunrays hid behind the mountains. New Moon passed rather quickly like the other phases, amazingly. They were just two days before Full Moon, and they were wondering what would happen. Vampires changed completely under Moon's influence and they started to bet if the gunslingers or the vampires were going to win this war.

Back in Acuna, Oyan and his men were wide-awake thanks to the drugs they brang to the battle. They were all in important spots, waiting. Night already fell. The stars were shining brightly and the Moon was slowly rising to the dark sky. There were no clouds and the silver light bathed everything under it, giving the gunslingers a bit of help. Everyone was still tired from the fight with the Beasts. Some of the injured were seeing how slow they were recovering, knowing that if it didn't heal, and they will soon be dead. Máximo was sitting with other rookies, not so far from Oyan's main group. His comrades were scared after what happened and didn't want to fight anymore. Máximo either, but they were already there. They couldn't run away like cowards. Alexis would not accept it. The boy placed his fingers over the necklace. Pureness, Death, Wisdom and Intelligence. A pure warrior doesn't fear Death, as his previous experience makes it strong and smart to each new challenge. He remembered Alexis's words and smiled. He couldn't fail him like this. Máximo grasped his weapon tightly.

He never really liked Oyan nor his ideas of a planet without Undead and vampires, but his parents were with the man and forced him to go to the Guild and become a gunslinger last year. If there was one thing he hated was fighting, but at that time he was young and couldn't oppose his parents. Now, with nineteen, he still was inside. Why it made him stay? If he hated all that, why he was still there? He looked around and saw his comrades helping each other. It was they. Máximo smiled. He was staying because of his friends, because he couldn't abandon them so lightly like Oyan did often with his soldiers. That's something that disgusted him, but admired Alexis after what he told to the fat Recher in that testing fight. Máximo wasn't going to leave behind someone of his own pack. He was going to fight for the individual and give his life if needed. But he wasn't brave. He wasn't strong. He was shy, he was a bit weak, he didn't have a lot of resistance, he actually sucked with his weapon. How he was going to protect his pack if he couldn't protect himself? Máximo sighed, closing his eyes. It was late and he was getting sleepy. He was a failure as a gunslinger; he was going to die that night for sure. Alexis was too kind at him, he had hopes on him and he will fail him.

He hadn't notice he fall asleep. He was so tired from the first round. The shouts and the shootings woke him up. A cry of pain from one of the men was something that made his skin shiver. The hairs of his arms shot straight. He opened his eyes, and it was chaos. His comrades were already fighting, some men were like him, just waking up, too shocked to react. But being young, he did it fast and stood up, taking his gun. He run towards one of the rookies and helped him in dealing with a vampire that was trying to kill him. A veteran took care of him and both of them retreated a bit from the fight, and saw what was happening. A group of vampires came from the shadows and started attacking while they were resting, seeing if they were going to come. Cries and curses were heard in the air. Shots, bodies landing on the floor, bones breaking, heads exploding, blood sprayed everywhere, vampires feeding from the fallen ones, gunslingers burning the ashes. Máximo whimpered. He hated all that fighting, all that useless fighting. How his parents ever thought that their son had the same ideas? He couldn't understand it.

"Watch out!", cried his partner, pushing him aside as a vampire flew besides them but, at failing, returned. "Stay away!", cried, as he took out his weapon.

"Come, shot! That thing can't hurt me!", yelled the creature, as they saw its dark aura and boney wings. It was no other but Lucian, which was hunting down his preys and enjoying the fight very much.

"You bastard!!", shouted again, shooting and seeing how the bullets bounced on the barrier that he had created around himself for protection. "Máximo, help me!!", pleaded him, but the boy was too scared to move.

Using his powers, Lucian grabbed both weapons in hand, walking and reaching them faster than they could ever imagine. But then, the man noticed the necklace Máximo was wearing on his chest. He grabbed it with curious, but the boy cried and hit his hand away. Lucian grinned holding him down with his arms and taking a good look at it. Yes, the feathers, the little orbs.

"'Don't kill him'", whispered the vampire, grinning still. "Of course, Alexander, I will not kill him.", he eyed the boy carefully, he sniffed him, he licked his right cheek. Máximo gasped when he met the bright red eyes of Lucian. "Yes, yes, he is a true warrior. You pick up the good ones, Alexander.", he laughed deeply, standing up and tossing the weapons to both scared boys. "Get up and hide. You shouldn't be here, so young, so fragile…"

Máximo's partner stood up and launched to Lucian, suddenly recovering from his shock, yelling in anger, but the man took him by his head and tossed him to the nearest building. The wall collapsed over him.

"Ah, hope I didn't kill him that easily.", said. He turned to Máximo. "He would have abandoned you, don't pity him. For now, save yourself until we finish tonight's fight.", he pointed to one house. "You can go there, it has a basement and the vampire will not notice you are there."

The boy stood up carefully, not taking his eyes from Lucian, who watched him with amusement.

"Why are you helping me?", asked Máximo. He knew that his partner wouldn't have helped him if he needed and didn't have pity as Lucian said.

"I'm wondering why the old Owl is helping you, but when the time comes, I will ask him. Now leave. I will change my mind soon and probably end up killing you too.", he grinned, watching Máximo go into the house he pointed. When the boy disappeared behind the door, Lucian turned around, seeing that the other one was slowly standing up. "Aha! I knew it!", cried happily, launching towards him and grabbing him by his neck, choking the young one. "I knew I didn't kill you! You stayed alive so I can play with you a bit, mm?", the boy gasped, kicking the air. "Oh, you did? How nice of you!", the man forced him to sit on the crumbled wall and took his head with one hand and put the other on his left shoulder. "Hello there, spinal column!"

Máximo almost threw up when Lucian took the head and, with it, the column of the young man, which body dropped to the ground, dead. The boy sighed deeply, panting with fear. He looked up for the basement the man told him and went downstairs. He saw the door, he put his hand over the doorknob and opened it, crying out loud when Máximo saw a boy around his age help some injured vampires that were on the floor. There was also another boy wearing green clothes and a green sash around his neck and shoulders. His hair was a light brown and was wearing a strange hood with orange patterns.

Too shocked to move, Máximo stood there but soon hid behind some medical boxes when the boy started to shot at him.

"Who the hell are you?!", yelled Aaron, Knight in hand, approaching the intruder slowly. But Máximo couldn't answer, he was scared. Did the vampire made him go into a trap? "How did you know about this place?"

"I-I… A-A purple haired va-vampire…", started him, tossing the weapon, showing he didn't want to fight. The green clothed boy, Tove, grabbed it and put it away as Máximo crawled from behind the boxes. He kneed on the floor, showing his empty hands. "A vampire out there… He told me to come here… I-I'm with Oyan but…", he touched the necklace and Tove gasped.

"That's from Alexander!"

"What?", Aaron looked at Máximo. "Where's Alexander?"

"I-I don't know… who you are talking about. I swear I have no idea.", frustrated, Aaron yelled and shot to the ceiling, breaking it and created a nice hole.

"Tie him up, Tove.", he turned around and kept helping the vampires with bruises and deep wounds.

Máximo stayed in the basement, tied up, watching Aaron and Tove going from here to there with the medical boxes, putting alcohol, applying potions over the painful cuts, over the hated solar burns. The boy didn't know why the vampire told him to go there if his allies where in it. He couldn't have trusted him only for wearing that necklace… Speaking of which, who was that Alexander guy? The boy in green said it was from him, but was Alexis who gave it to him. Could it be that Alexis was a spy from the vampires? That's why some of the members in the Guild didn't want him to stay, thinking it could be bad for them. But if it was, why Oyan let him stay, why he gave him that stupid talk about the North history? Was it because he knew they were still looking for him and pretended to make them fight against each other, to create anger in the allies, to create revenge feelings?

Alexis was a very nice guy, especially to him since they shared rooms in the Guild. The man surely didn't abandon his partners, his friends. Máximo smiled. He was admiring him more and more. Alexis sacrificed himself in other to save his friends, and was risking his life for them staying in the Guild to provide information about Oyan and the gunslingers. Máximo wasn't capable of doing that sort of things because first, he didn't have any true friends and second, he wasn't a warrior as that purple haired vampire said. He was just a coward, preferring to run before helping his comrades. But no one could blame him. That was Oyan's way of doing things, and after two years of fighting with the Undead and training there, one gets used to that.

The boy eyed the vampires there. They were all men. Some of them were young; others seemed to have reached their mature age. He looked at Aaron. The boy was perhaps a bit younger than him, one or two years, and was participating in the war. He surely was a gunslinger like himself. The way he reacted, the way he took his gun, how he shoot. Máximo liked him already even if Aaron thought he was an enemy.

"How are you guys?", asked Lucian when he opened the door. Máximo gasped when he saw the vampire was dragging some half-dead gunslingers with him. "Hungry?", said, grinning. "They don't have nice taste but your stomachs will be happy after eating them."

The vampire's eyes shone with excitement as they saw the desperate men trying to break free from Lucian's iron grip. The man tossed them on the floor and the creatures immediately jumped on them.

"Oh, you here.", said Lucian, sitting next to Máximo. "I was worrying that my mate had killed you."

"I would if I hadn't seen he was wearing Alexander's necklace.", answered Aaron, flopping on Lucian's lap. The vampire hugged him and put his head over Aaron's.

"Always so aggressive.", joked the man, kissing him deeply. "Let him go now, Oyan's retreating. I don't want him to get killed by the others."

Tove was the one that accompanied Máximo to the door. The Terrennial untied him and gave him the weapon. He hoped a good trip back to the Guild and closed the door. The boy was utterly confused now, but didn't waste time. He found the group and mixed with it, no one asked anything. No one even cared about him, if he was alive, if he was dead. Máximo gripped his teeth. No one was looking for him, everyone only cared about themselves. They weren't true warriors; they wouldn't sacrifice themselves for someone.

The trip back was longer than he thought of. When they finally reached the Guild, everyone tossed their weapons on the floor and sat anywhere. But Máximo, since he was in better shape than the others, run upstairs, finding Alexander sleeping on his bed. The boy smiled, closing he door behind him. He wasn't going to disturb his sleep. Máximo took off his clothes and tossed them on the floor, climbing to his own bed. The necklace rested on his chest. He touched it, and smiled. Máximo curled under the sheets and blankets and drifted to sleep quickly.

The next morning was a bad one. Every member was angry with Oyan for the way he acted the previous night. They had lost ¾ of the men they had yesterday and now they had to wait for the others to arrive. They were a day and half away from the East city and they needed them now. Oyan opted to ignore the rants of his soldiers as he stayed in his room all day, only going outside if Recher, Merclar or Nidhoggr needed him.

Máximo was in a better mood that day. Alexander was happy to see him again, happy that the boy hadn't died in his first real fight, but got serious when the boy related what happened with Lucian, Aaron and the necklace. Alexander took him to the roof, saying that there no one would disturb them, knowing that Alice had her microphones hiding somewhere. He didn't want the girl to listen, but also feared that Nidhoggr had found and manipulated them. He told him his secret, that he wasn't a real human but rather the Wind Terrennial and was staying to watch over Oyan's moves even when Alice had it all controlled up there. He needed to fake that he renounced to his friends and wanted to start a new life, seeing how evil vampires were, but completely hated the man's ideas, just like Máximo. The boy understood what it meant by that, having to impress his parents every time, doing what they said. He was getting tired of it.

"But don't say a word.", warned Alexander. "I might like you, but if I see you betray me, then I will not doubt in killing you."

"N-No! Never!", said the boy. "I'm not like them!"

The Terrennial smiled.

"I know you aren't, but I can't be a fool either. Try not to stick up too much with me. The spy is very, very intelligent and intuitive. He might soon discover both of us are… in something, you know.", added with a grin.

Máximo nodded.

"But all rookies love you."

"I know. Just don't love me more than that.", said as he ruffled his hair. Máximo smiled, blushing softly. "Let's go back. I bet our 'comrades' are waiting for leader's new plan."

The boy nodded again and followed Alexander downstairs, swearing to give everything from him for Alexander, since it was the only one that deserved to be impressed on the entire planet.


	22. Chapter 22

**Kemeno: Yes, Lucian's scarier now. x3 Watch out! **

**Enjoy this chapter!**

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22

The day before Oyan broke into Acuna, the other Group was preparing themselves. Sheridan had finished the armors in time, luckily. Everyone thought it would be like the Casket Armors but surprised when the man took out a single piece suit. The material was similar to the spandex but when he made Nish put it and tell Aaron to shot him (Nish was completely scared at this point, not really liking the idea at all), they cried in joy when the bullet bounced on the suit and then disappeared in the air as result. There were enough suits for everyone, but Lucian and Dumas didn't want one, as they trusted the ones they had underneath the armor they wore.

They traveled to the Hideout, carrying the cardboard boxes filled with this suit to everyone that was hiding there. In total, they could reunite around one thousand of people, perhaps just a quarter of what Oyan's army was. But the number, in this case, wasn't a winning card. The vampires were much stronger and agile than humans, even during the day. It's true humans would work better during sunlight, but vampires wearing that suit would be safe from the Sun during the day, giving them a high advantage over Oyan.

In the Hideout, Ernest, Kay and Bea were training the ones willing to fight, explaining the plan and everything. They stayed with their family and friends, hoping to come back from the first fight alive. If not, they would keep them in their hearts, always remembering them, knowing once the fight is finished, they will have a better place where to live. Lucian seemed touched by those words, by those ideas, by that hope. He knows how it was to fight for something and failing miserably, how it was to want to change something and being impossible to succeed, how it was to lose someone of your friends or family in that fight and not being able to fulfill their dream. He knew despair, he knew anger, he knew sadness, he knew each of the negatives feelings a human or a vampire could feel in its entire life. He knew them well and didn't want to feel them again. But it was impossible, not when you have friends to take care for, or a mate to love with all your being that is also taking part of this fight. Aaron refused completely to stay in the Hideout. Ha had fought with Lucian several times about it, and most of the times you could hear them yell at each other because of it.

In the end, Ernest had to take a decision and allowed to Aaron to participate, at a minimum. Of course, Aaron didn't like the idea, but Lucian said it was better than nothing. He knew Oyan was behind him and yet he was going directly to him. Aaron had to conform to that and agreed to hide in some houses near the battlefield with Tove to help the wounded ones. After that discussion, he refused to talk with Lucian for several days. The vampire was starting to get mad at him due to this infant behavior. He only wanted to protect him; he couldn't bear the idea of losing, once more, his loved one.

"But you are jailing him.", said Dumas when Lucian came to him to talk. He couldn't do it with Ernest, since he would defend the boy and say he was wrong in everything. "You can't keep him locked up in a room or in a basement or even here, because the boy is naturally a carefree. It's like putting in a cage a bird that has to naturally be free."

"Aaron doesn't think a strategy; he doesn't… see the danger. He hadn't fought alone!", screamed Lucian, his eyes shinning in a bright red. "He always had someone looking for him; at first it was Ernest, then me. How is he going to survive if he doesn't know how to fight by himself? That's what I fear. It is not that I don't trust his abilities, because hell I know how good he is."

"Well, at that I can't say much since you are right, just there.", Lucian frowned and growled. "Take it easy. You said that Aaron doesn't know how to fight alone, right? Then, how is he going to learn if you are constantly watching over him?", the vampire opened his mouth, but closed it afterwards. "Do you see now?"

"But…", he crossed his arms over his chest, leaning on the wall. "I know that."

"Why are you so scared? It's not the first time he goes in a rampage like this. Remember four year ago, with Edgar and Virginia. You weren't exactly watching his back that time.", said Dumas with a mischief smile. Lucian had to admit he was right. "What is it, then?"

"…I can't… talk about it now.", replied, looking the wall, avoiding Dumas' eyes. "I can't say it. I can't."

"Is related to your past?", Lucian nodded. "I see."

Dumas suggested he relaxed a bit with him, not talking about the subject concerning both of them. He and Rymer used to stay together until battle started, barely talking, just enjoying their presence. Lucian said he would try it. When Aaron's angry, he could kick him out and not let the man get near him the whole day. Because of that, he didn't go right away. He wanted the boy to calm down a bit.

As for Aaron, he had been practicing what Dyango taught him. In secret, of course. He couldn't let the others know about this new dark power he was developing thanks to Lucian. During that week, he was able to make stronger needles that pierced through the walls, metal and wood. That was one of his most amazing progresses. Besides doing that, he could finally create a small bat with the shadows and make it fly and go wherever he wanted to. The flames grew stronger too, becoming raged black and purple flames that burn everything down, orbs that hit and broke anything in front of them and ropes made from his own powers and blood, as he soon discovered he could mix both elements to create a strong bond with it. The only side effect of this last attack is that if he loses a lot of blood he could pass away.

He and Dyango could keep talking even when he was in the Hideout thanks to his progresses. The bats were perfectly well done, as Dyango had said, and could travel everywhere. Several times, he felt that they were destroyed as the energy returned to him, having to make them again and tell them to choose another route to reach the young man. Aaron had asked the man to finally join them before they went into fight, but Dyango kept rejecting him, saying it wasn't them time. The boy was getting mad at him now. It almost seemed he was behaving like Lucian at some point and that was something he wasn't tolerating anymore. This continued several days until, doing what Dumas told Lucian to do, Aaron was completely out of his mind. But the incessant ways of the vampire in calming the boy finally made effect, as Aaron was now hugging Lucian, face buried in his chest, not saying anything while his mate rubbed his back and played with his hair.

"Are you better now?", asked the man, kissing Aaron's forehead. He received a grunt for response that made him laugh. "Good."

"I'm stressed, can't you see?", came the boy's voice as he put his ear on Lucian's chest. He barely heard his heartbeats. They were too irregular and very, very low. But it was still beating and that pleasant sound will always lull him to sleep, either loud or low. "And the discussion we had didn't help at all."

"I know.", whispered the man, kissing him again. "I can't help myself sometimes."

Aaron lifted his head, looking straight into Lucian's ones.

"Well, it would help if you could tell me some stuff about you, to begin with.", the man suppressed a sigh, or it was a low growl, he didn't know. "Don't give me that bullshit of excuse that you can't talk about it, because that's not true.", he put both of his hands over his face, not letting him look away from him. "I want to know what happened to you before you joined the Guild with my father. I want to know about your family…", at this time, Lucian closed his eyes and sighed, but Aaron made him open them again. A painful expression was written on his face. "I'm here to ease your pain as you do with mine, and I want to because I love you.", he kissed Lucian's lips, the man answering to the soft gesture.

"I would love to tell you about it.", said the man in a whisper, so only Aaron could hear. "But this war is making me remember the things I don't want to, and I'm not exactly… good right now.", his arms gripped the boy tightly and bring him closer. "I admit I put excuses before, but I didn't want you to… think different from me after all I have done."

"Why would I ever think different from you?", he smiled. "You are you, you are Lucian, you are my mate, my partner's life.", Lucian blushed softly like did the boy, burying his face on his neck. "The things you have done in the past will not affect me, because thanks to them you have become the one you are now.", the boy kissed his neck, tangling his fingers into his hair.

"I love you.", whispered Lucian into his ear, sighing happily, rubbing Aaron's back softly.

"Me too.", answered the boy, closing his eyes, hearing Lucian's soft heartbeats.

That night everyone was too nervous to get some sleep. Even Dumas was. Nish tried to calm him down but it was useless, so they stayed most of the night awake playing some card games or chess, before they could lay on the bed and rest for a few hours. Ernest was also nervous, he couldn't stop talking but Bea and Kay deled with him. Lucian was rather calm. He was excited more like nervous. He couldn't wait to start the fight, he wanted to kill. Those thoughts surprised the man, as he didn't know how aggressive he could get. But then again, it was probably because Full Moon was close and being a vampire, was feeling the effects already.

Aaron managed to sleep half of the night before waking up around five in the morning. Lucian was still besides him, one arm around him, holding him tightly, in a possessive way, resting his head over his. The Hideout wasn't prepared to stay for several days and didn't have ovens to warm up the place. The vampires staying there obviously didn't need as they couldn't feel the change in temperatures, but they brought sheets and blankets from their houses for the humans staying with them. Aaron received the ones that covered his body from the family that Lucian saved long ago, saying they were in debt with him from all he had done and the man said they would pay him if they would bring the blankets to his mate, who was at that time curling besides him trying to stay warm. Now, he was better than before, comfy under them and using Lucian as this one was a bed, not that the man minded.

The vampires put the suits on even when they weren't to fight yet. Around nine in the morning, Ernest phoned Alice to see which were going to be Oyan's moves. Luckily, they managed to find a computer in good shape in where Alice was sending the maps she had in the satellite, giving instructions to Ernest about the gunslingers. At eleven, Hër, the boy that was going to drag Vanargandr, and Jin, who was holding Jormungandr with both hands, listened to the leader carefully. When the gunslinger entered Acuna, they would come out from the shadows and let them hear that they weren't alone in the city. After encountering them, they would leave both weapons on the street and then Lucian would summon both Beasts to see if they could kill Oyan right away and finish with the fight in an instant.

They waited an hour before Alice told Bea the gunslingers were already in Acuna. Everyone gathered around the computer. Ernest gave his seat to Lucian and the man watched how the group of near five-hundred men was marching down Acuna's principal street. The Terrennials were outside, guarding the entrance of the Hideout and some of them were in Acuna. It was ten past twelve in midday. Hër and Jin where already out, under the Sun, not feeling anything thanks to the suit and the cap they were wearing. Lucian told them to start walking, hearing that annoying screech sound from both weapons, but they all wondered why they suddenly stop and started shooting, as they couldn't see anything but a strong razor wind pass by them. Every ignored it, watching how the gunslingers continued their walk.

Everyone smiled when after twenty minutes Oyan finally heard the sound. He divided its group in two, one kept going forwards and the other took another route. Lucian told Jin where he needed to go as the gunslingers were actually walking away from him, and that wasn't what they wanted. Finally, both vampires found both groups, leaving both weapons on the street and disappearing in their own shadows at Lucian's command.

"Are you sure this is going to work?", asked Ernest, watching how Oyan and some of his group approached Vanargandr. The other group was doing the same with Jormungandr.

Lucian smiled, shrugging.

"If it doesn't they can't do much with my weapons as they eat anyone that touch them, if it's not me.", he grinned when everyone turned their back to them. "Now, watch…"

The man started to sing in a low voice an ancient language that no one could understand, except for the vampires. As it grew louder, they could see how both weapons started to glow in red and levitate, releasing Dark Matter around them. The gunslingers attacked, but with a single snap of his fingers, a shield appeared around them, blocking the solar bullets but absorbing the high damage from the grenades. But Lucian wasn't worrying. Just as they were going to break, both Beasts finally emerged from the weapons, still protected. Jormungandr attacked right after it was summoned, but Vanargandr took its time before doing it.

All the fun finished when the humans came. Vanargandr was confused. Its master told him only to kill the gunslingers but, what about the humans? The wolf retreated as they started to splash water on him, whimpering at the burning sensation. Jormungandr, seeing that its partner was running away, decided to follow, both of them disappearing.

"Well, at last they managed to kill a few of them.", came Alice's voice from the audio connection.

"How much?", asked Ernest.

"Half of them.", answered the girl.

"Good.", said the tanned man. "Tonight we will be able to probably kill the remaining ones. Hopefully, we will kill Oyan too."

Bea was left with her cousins in charge with Alice. The rest of the afternoon, they spent it in training before Ezra showed up, with an urgent message from Alexander. Lucian and Dumas heard it, glad to see the Terrennial was safe even in the enemy's hands, still wanting to know how Oyan believed him when he 'renounced' to them. The three of them explained the situation to the rest and everyone understood that they haven't to kill a man with the Terrennial's human features. After this only incident, they returned to their works. Aaron was helping Tove with the medical boxes, checking that they had everything in there. They also were taking one filled with medical blood inside Ezra's ice to prevent the blood to root for the vampires that needed to get their strength back.

Working in here and this, the afternoon become evening. And with it, it brought the dark night and the bright Moon over the sky. There were no clouds over it, only stars and the protector of all night creatures. The first group was prepared. Lucian was going out that night. He was discussing the last minutes details. Aaron was already worrying for his mate, having everything in the house for him and Tove. The clock bells rang. It was time to go.

"Don't get in troubles.", said Lucian to Aaron, hugging him tightly. The vampires hugged their families and friends before leaving.

"You either.", the boy's eyes were watering, but he was fighting back the tears that wanted to roll down his cheeks. He felt his mate's lips on his own and returned the kiss deeply, pulling Lucian's hair with force.

The vampire chuckled as he kissed the boy's forehead. He turned around and walked away with the rest of his group. Aaron whimpered. His love was leaving, part of him was leaving. What if it didn't come back ever?

"Oh, Heavens…", he whispered, feeling Nish's arms around him. "I can't let him go…", said with hoarsen voice. "Heavens, I can't!!", he buried his face on Nish's chest, sobbing loudly.

"It's alright, kid.", tried the albino, rubbing the boy's back. "He will be alright. You can't bring Lucian down that easily, not now that he is a full vampire."

But it was useless. Aaron cried and cried as never did in his whole life, not even when his father died.

Tove and the boy carried the boxes with Hër's help in the underground tunnels. Vampires used them to escape from any possible gunslinger or vampire hunter that wanted them dead. They were done by them and each tunnel connected to other house, possibly a friend's or relative's one. The tunnels were lighted with fire torches, but Hër knew the path from memory and didn't had to look up some strange labels on the walls. A few minutes later, they finally reached their destiny. They went upstairs and Hër pushed a scuttle, getting inside the empty house. He put the boxes on the floor and helped Tove and Aaron to get in too, closing the scuttle and hiding it under the carpet. Grabbing again the boxes, they went to the basement in where they prepared everything; the bandages, the needles if they needed to sew the wound, alcohol, soap, the boxes of latex gloves. Hër asked Tove if Aaron was capable of working with them, and the Terrennial said that yes, he was. After defeating Polidori at the Vambery, the boy had learned from him the healing process and was able to practice medicine as a nurse, if he wanted to.

For the first thirty minute there was nothing to do. The three of them waited patiently, Aaron moving around, not being able to stay quiet. He was deeply thinking of Lucian, who was out there, fighting, getting hurt, cursing but above all, enjoying it. Enjoying the killing, the smell of blood, the fear in the enemy's eyes, the flesh on his hands, the texture of the blood on his tongue. The boy shivered. The idea of his mate feeling that excitement excited him too. He didn't know why, but he wanted to go out just to see him killing, to massacre their enemies. Aaron bit his lips as a moan dared to escape his mouth, his cheeks blushing softly. How he could be thinking something like that in those moments? The boy got mad at himself for that. He was there to help, he had discussed with Lucian about it. And now, all he could do is daydream?

The door opening was what distracted him from his thoughts. A bleeding vampire entered, being carried by his partner. He left him into Hër's hands and returned to the fight, closing the door behind him. Tove and Aaron put the gloves on and started to work. Hër cleaned the wounds while the Terrennial was putting some cream over the open and deep ones to make the zone numb before closing it with needle and line. The vampire hissed in pain, he could feel the needle stick into his skin, the line following behind. The anesthesia hasn't made effect fast enough and didn't numb the skin and muscles. But when Tove finished, the vampire could feel the anesthesia doing effect a few minutes after, calming the pain a bit. Aaron made it swallow some painkillers as they made him sat against the wall. Hër grabbed one of the medical blood bags and tossed it to the man, who happily took it, thanking the blue haired boy.

More wounded vampires came shortly after the first, and the boys were working hard. The ones that only needed a little rest drank the potions and left quickly, while the severe ones stayed. It didn't really pass a lot of time when Máximo appeared, shouting, freezing over the doorway. Spinning around fast, Aaron took his Knight out and started to shot, not caring if it was foe or an ally. Máximo hid behind the boxes, trying to explain his situation. Aaron didn't trust him at all, but if he was there wasn't because he found the house just empty and wanted to hide, since he was a foreigner in the East cities. The only one that knew about the place was Lucian and the vampires fighting, but he doubt they would give out the location of the hideout that easily. When Máximo crawled away from the boxes, Tove noticed Alexander's necklace and it was when Aaron knew Lucian has sent the boy. He didn't understand why, though.

After tying the gunslinger, they left him near the door, with the weapon away from him, returning to their unfinished work. From time to time, Hër would lift up his head to see if the gunslinger wanted to try some sort of escape, but it surprised him and the others that he wasn't even trying. Did he really wanted to die, or he just got lost? Hër was already thinking that they could feed from him if no one knew what to do with him. Once they finished with the wounded ones, they took a little rest and a few minutes later, Lucian came, holding some of the North gunslinger in his hands. Again, Máximo yelled, crawling backwards when the vampire stepped in the basement and tossed the half dead men to the floor, the vampires jumping on them as soon as they hit the floor, hungry as hell.

Lucian flopped next to Máximo, grinning, as the boy was still alive. He had thought that Aaron might have killed him. Alexander would get mad, but he couldn't blame the boy for protecting the vampires from getting killed or harmed.

"Why you sent him here?", asked Aaron, on his mate's lap once Tove had left with Máximo.

"You saw the necklace?", the boy nodded. "That thing is an object that Alexander uses when he wants to protect someone. For us, it's a sign that says 'Don't kill him'.", explained the man. "He is a warrior, like us, but Oyan's ways of bringing it out aren't exactly the best."

"He trusts him?"

"Apparently. If not, then he wouldn't give such treasure to such boy."

Around midnight they returned to the Hideout. Lucian and Hër helped the ones that couldn't walk by carrying them on their backs, while Tove and Aaron leaded the way back. The torches were lighted on, still, and it was the only light illuminating. Aaron looked back softly, eyeing his mate. Lucian was covered with blood, but didn't know if it was his or from the gunslingers. There were cuts and scratches on his arms and face, and the armor too. That armor had already eleven years old, he didn't know how much longer it was going to endure the threat the vampire was giving to it. Perhaps he could go and see Sheridan and ask him if he could fix it. Not making it completely new, but extending its life use. But Lucian will not let him go outside without someone who watched over him. Maybe he could talk with Ernest. He could convince him about that and while Lucian rested, he was going to see Sheridan. It was a good plan.

When they arrived, they laid the injured ones over blankets on the floor, resting their heads over pillows. Aaron helped Lucian with his wounds before the vampire went to rest a bit. The boy run to Ernest and talked about his idea, but the man said how in hell he was going to grab the vest if Lucian was wearing it all the time.

"He is going to take a shower.", said Aaron.

Ernest blinked.

"How do you know that? I saw him lying on the floor, resting."

"He will. He hates being dirty.", explained Aaron. "When he does, I will steal the armor and leave."

"If you say so."

The man wasn't that convinced but had to take back his words when, half and hour later, Lucian disappeared in the bathroom to take a bath as Aaron said. Taking advantage of the situation, the boy sneaked in and grabbed the clothes, telling Lucian that he had new clothes lying on the toilet. The vampire didn't notice that his mate stole the armor as he only thanked him. Aaron, smiling while closing the door behind him, took the Knigth, put some warm clothes and the vampire's jacket over all, he told Ernest where he was going if Lucian asked, stole Bea's scarf and stepped outside the Hideout.

It was cold outside. The winter was going to be harsh that year, as it was only beginning. In two months from that night, he was going to turn seventeen and was kind of exited about that. Lucian didn't exactly liked birthdays but, only because it was him, he joined him and the others. His gifts were simple, but with meaning. Aaron loved them. Three years ago, not knowing what to buy, he simple bought a box of chocolate bonbons. Bea got jealous of the boy, because she was waiting for Ernest to do that for her, and tried to steal one, but Aaron protected them firmly. He enjoyed eating them, one per day, thinking how lucky he was to receive them. He liked that Lucian was like that.

But he didn't know Lucian's birthday, exactly. A few months later the last war was over, they were lying under the fresh shadow of a tree, talking about themselves. Aaron asked, but the vampire said he couldn't remember, but the boy knew it was a lie, it was an excuse. Even not knowing, Aaron always gave him something in a particular day of the year, just to celebrate it. For some reason he choose the first of June and, for the last four years, they had been celebrating it that day. Lucian often said that it wasn't the first of June, but Aaron didn't care. He did it anyway, and the vampire was happy about that, deep inside.

The trip was safe. There were no gunslingers out that night. The forest was quiet, no sound came from it. Even the usual undead weren't seen. Some creatures howled, startling Aaron from behind, making him take his gun out and shot several times before noticing there was no one with him. It made the boy angry as he was wasting energy that couldn't replace since he didn't have the Sun and forgot his Eclipse Goggles in the Hideout to charge under Moonlight.

Carmilla opened the door and smiled to Aaron when she saw him. Letting him in, she told him to wait as she went to bring Sheridan. The boy sighed as he finally made it. The trip was longer than he thought of, perhaps because he was alone and hadn't anyone to talk with, and was a bit tired. He let the armor over the floor and sat on one of the chairs, waiting. The alchemist didn't take too long in coming, and was happy to see the boy again, alive. Sheridan asked why he would come in such late hours and Aaron explained him the armor's situation. The professor told him to come to the lab, Carmilla helping the boy with it, and put it on a table, taking it out from the bag. Sheridan started to examine it and said it will take a couple of hours to fix it, but that he could do it.

"It's strange to see you alone.", said Sheridan, grabbing the materials he needed. Each of them was put on the table next to the armor. "Did you sneak out?"

"No, I told Ernest I was leaving to see you.", answered Aaron, walking around the laboratory and eyeing most of the stuff there. "I don't know how Lucian is going to react, since I told him nothing about this."

Sheridan laughed.

"Ah, he's going to be pretty pissed, right?", the boy nodded. "How things are going?"

"Good. At noon we could defeat half of Oyan's men, and some time ago we reduced it even more.", said with joy the boy. "Though Ernest made me stay helping Tove and another vampire with the medical supplies."

"You are not allowed to fight?", asked the man, surprised.

"As far as I know, no.", Aaron sighed, sitting on a strange spinning chair. "They are worried that Oyan might capture me and they think that locking me up will help, but I just get more stressed seeing I can't do anything to help them."

"That must be pretty hard."

"Indeed it is.", the boy looked how Sheridan mixed the materials in a circular vase, not so high. There he put also the armor; the thin vest, the chestplates and the boots. "I feel useless and so impotent when Lucian comes all hurt from the battles, thinking I could have protected him like he did when we were together...", there was a soft blue light inside the vase that didn't leave right away. Sheridan put a top on it and left it work.

"I don't know why they worry about that.", said the man, sitting next to the boy. "You have become a powerful gunslinger; you know how to take care of yourself. Lucian had taught you a lot."

"I guess it's because they wouldn't know what to do if Oyan ever captures me.", answered the boy. He saw some funny swirls appeared inside the vase. "Lucian... would freak out, making it easier to capture or kill him."

"I think he doesn't know how he would react if Oyan captures you.", said the man. "Lucian is still adapting to his new form and from what I heard when you and the others stayed, is that he doesn't know what he capable of is."

"It could be.", agreed Aaron, not so convinced yet.

"Lucian doesn't doubt about your powers. He and Ernest know very well how good you are, but they fear about your clumsiness. You are young and you feel you should go right straight to the opponent and attack it, seeing if you can kill it in the first shot.", Aaron giggled. Sheridan was right, though. "You aren't capable of thinking before doing an action, and that in a fight will probably cost your life. I think that's why they don't let you go out."

"Well, I would know how if they only teach me."

"They have been trying all these years and you haven't heard a single word of it.", replied Sheridan, making Aaron to avoid his gaze. Again, he was right. "You can't pretend learning without listening first."

"I know, I know---"

"And you also grow anxious. You want things right away and you can't. Teaching is something that takes time, and learning is something that takes years."

"Isn't teaching and learning the same, though?", asked Aaron, watching the swirls inside the vase.

"Not at all.", said Sheridan, smiling. "I teach you the theory, while you learn the practice. This is the process that takes more time."

Maybe it was right. He was a hot-headed boy and would react at the first insult. He doesn't think a way to reply to that and make the other bit his own dust, like Ernest or Lucian does often. But he had this impulse, to feast his fists, to walk towards the enemy, to rise his hands, to hit him. Maybe it was something inherited from Trinity. He made a mental note of asking Ernest once he returned.

They stayed talking the two hours the armor needed to absorb all the materials. When it finished, it was shinning and all scratches, hits and other harm were gone. Even the thin vest seemed new and was a bit more flexible than before. Aaron thanked Sheridan's hard work and left with the new armor. It was near two in the morning, but he wasn't tired yet. The habit of the vampires was slowly getting into him. Just when the Sun was rising from the horizon, he would feel sleepy, tired. His eyes were slowly adapting to the darkness of the Night, and sometimes bright lights would make his eyes ache and shed tears. If he continued like this, his skin would soon lose some color and was going to live entirely by night.

"Good evening.", said a soft voice from above and Aaron already knew who it was. "Why up so late at night?", asked Dyango from his usual spot on the same tree. As always, the hat and the cloak were on his body, keeping his body warm. The bag of belonging was under his head, serving as a pillow.

"I took Lucian's armor to Sheridan. It needed some reparations.", said the boy, approaching the plant. "Why are you still here? Weren't you hosting in Acuna's Inn?"

"Well, with all this happening with the North Gunslinger the owner closed it, and I'm here, not having a place where to go.", he laughed. "But I don't mind. I have been living in the outside for many years now. I'm already used to it."

"Wouldn't you want to come with me to the Hideout?", tried one last time the boy. He liked Dyango very much to just leave him like that. Besides, the young man said he was going to help and, until now, he hadn't. "We might not have beds, but at last you will have some sheets and blankets rather than an old and dirty coat like that."

Dyango made a face and the boy could see he was offended.

"You just insulted my clothes?", said the man. Aaron understood now and giggled. Dyango smiled, showing his fangs. "Patience, little one. It's not the right time."

Aaron sighed heavily.

"You sound a lot like Lucian...", admitted the boy, turning around to leave. But that phrase awaked Dyango's curiosity.

The young man took his bag and jumped from the tree, landing and following Aaron close behind.

"I am?", asked, putting his bag over his right shoulder.

"Yes, pretty much. He always puts a stupid excuse to not tell me about his past.", said lightly angry.

Dyango seemed surprised.

"He hasn't told you anything?"

"Just what we both know; how he used to be a gunslinger, how he fought with Dumas and such.", answered the boy. "Everytime I ask about his family or his childhood, he refuses to tell a single word.", a group of crows took fly from a nearly tree, making the leaves move and create a soft sound. "Toasty is the one that tells me bits of it, but not enough to betray Lucian's trust on him."

"Well, he has his reasons if he is not telling you."

"But I'm his mate!", yelled the boy. "Isn't that enough for him?"

Dyango sighed, showing a sad face.

"Sometimes it isn't.", Aaron looked at him, not believing him. "Sometimes we had suffered a lot in our past that the last thing we want is to revive it."

Aaron opened his mouth lightly, not knowing what to say. He did thought of that, but knowing Lucian he would say it was an excuse. What if he really meant it? What if Lucian's past really hurt him a lot that the single idea of telling it would make it worst? He had told him that this war was making him remember things he didn't from his past and yet Aaron was trying to force him to tell him. He was a bit selfish there, but he had a right as not a mere mate or lover, but as a person who was going to be, hopefully, with Lucian the rest of his life. In the boy's eyes, it was unfair for him. He wanted to help him but seemed that the vampire didn't want his help at all. He wanted to talk with him, but the vampire refused to say a thing. How he was going to work it out if Lucian was so closed to him?

He can understand that he had lost a lover, that he didn't want it to happen again and because of it, he was behaving a bit overprotected. He could understand his sudden changes of moods when he tried to talk with him about fighting. He could understand that he couldn't leave him alone. But what he couldn't understand was if Lucian trusts and loves the boy so deeply, why he couldn't trust him his own past? Wasn't something important for both of them? If Lucian could speak up, Aaron will understand certain things about the vampire he currently didn't. Every vampire had a very aggressive side, but Lucian was at the limit of being a sadist. Not even Dumas was like that, not now not back then when he still ruled as a Duke. Being cruel creatures by nature, they liked to inflcit pain in other living beings, but Lucian just loved to torture. It wasn't just physical pain like most night creatures would do. The Dark Swordsman would use anything at his hand to make it worst; needles, knives, chains, whips, hot metals on the skin, tearing the prey limb by limb, insulting, cursing, humiliating, anything to make the prey go into a unhealthy state of mind. Aaron didn't know if it was 'normal'. He knew that some people, including vampires, loved to do that, but Lucian's tastes were beyond 'normal'.

He was also very masochist, as he loved the pain he felt when they had sex; pinching his nipples was something Lucian adored and would do anything to get more of it. Several times he had cried to his young mate to use whips, knives or anything that would inflict more pain and more pleasure to him, but Aaron refused to do so. He couldn't hurt his mate, even if Lucian felt good by it. Lucian could get lightly angry if someone else that wasn't Aaron inflicted pain or humiliated him, but still felt good and didn't complain. Again, the boy knew some people liked it, but his mate was beyond that. He wanted to understand those behaviors that even Dumas couldn't decipher.

"Is it normal for a vampire to be extremely sadist or masochist, or both things at the same time?"

Aaron's question took Dyango off guard. He blinked, confused. They were walking besides Acuna's limits now, but it was calm. There were no gunslingers patrolling the area due that the survivors were tired, hurt or both.

"Why do you ask?"

"Because I have been thinking how Lucian reacts and Kay said that he was a sadist when he listed in the Guild, and that was over eleven years ago.", explained the boy.

"There isn't anything weird about that.", said Dyango. "Most vampires are quiet sadist or masochist, sometimes both. I don't know why you seem surprised or worried about that."

"I feel like Lucian's tastes go far away from the usual liking.", he looked up and saw the stars. The Moon was slowly becoming a full circle, and Aaron asked how the phase was going to react on Lucian and the rest of the vampires. "All vampires in the Hideout were nervous, scared before the fight, but Lucian seemed anxious. He had been trembling but not from fear."

"You say that Lucian has a strong appetite of making others suffer?", Aaron nodded. "Well, I don't know him at all so I wouldn't know where it comes, but probably is because of something that happened to him when he was either a child or a teen."

"You see? It's all related to his past!", said the boy with frustration.

Dyango smiled sadly.

"Have patience, he will tell you in time.", not letting the boy reply, he returned to the subject that feed his curiosity. "How strong is Lucian's appetite?"

Aaron arched his eyebrows.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Both ways; sexually and about this new thing I just discovered from him.", the boy blushed deeply.

"W-Well... Sexually he is very... His appetite is quiet large.", he cleared his throat. "In Full Moon nights there is nothing to do to stop him from, well, taking me.", his face shaded in a deeper red. "Not that I mind since I can have my way on him, too."

"And about this sadist and masochist thing?"

"...I wouldn't know, but I guess it's as strong as his sexual appetite."

"It doesn't surprise me, seeing that pain and pleasure goes hand by hand.", Dyango yawned.

"Tired?"

"A bit. I haven't been sleeping well these days."

The rest of the trip was in silence. Aaron kept thinking about Lucian, but also in Dyango. Some of his actions were too similar to Lucian's, but couldn't figure out why. There were people that could have familiar things, but not behave completely the same. Dyango's smirks were similar too, the way he smiled too, some hand gestures... But looking at him closely Aaron saw he wasn't exactly physically similar to Lucian at all. They had different color of hair, their bodies were different, their skin was different, their eyes were different. They were completely the opposite and the boy couldn't relate them as some sort of distant relatives, even though some of their gestures were very similar. But it couldn't be possible. Dyango hadn't seen Lucian ever, just two or three times before going to the Hideout, and he didn't know anything about him either, unless the young man was lying. If Dyango had been lying all the way, what for? He didn't doubt he was a writer but, why lie about something like that? There was something Dyango didn't want Aaron to figure out, and perhaps it was the reason why he hadn't joined the fight yet.

He couldn't relate if Lucian's excuses were because of this too, but thinking again, he had been doing it before he met Dyango, so it wasn't possible it was for the same reason as the young man. Then, what was for? Even if their reasons weren't the same, Aaron knew both of them had something that related them closely. He just needed to figure it out.


	23. Chapter 23

**Hey! I hope all of you are enjoying this story so far. This time, I'm uploading two chapters instead of one because in the next few days, I'm going to be on vacations, so I will be unable to update after I come back. I might not upload until next month (Frebuary), but it will depend in my mood. For now, enjoy these two chapters.**

**See ya in two weeks, guys!**

* * *

23

Honestly, he didn't expect Lucian to react the way he did. When Aaron returned to the Hideout with the new armor, the vampire was waiting for him in their usual spot. He was resting, bathed already, and wearing light clothes despite of how cold the building was. The vampire was rather calm, Aaron thought he might get angry because he left, and even asked if the trip was safe, if a gunslinger had encountered him. The boy was completely confused with this behavior as he gave Lucian his new armor. The man started to undress as he took the thin vest.

"What's with you?", asked Aaron when Lucian finished putting the armor on.

"Nothing, why?", answered the other, noticing how shiny and new it was. He smiled. Sheridan did a nice work.

"Nothing? I went to Sheridan's mansion _alone_.", Aaron put emphasis in the last word.

"At last you told me where you were going instead of just running.", came the vampire's reply. Lucian hugged the boy, purring out loud. "Wait…", he sniffed the boy and Aaron started to panic. He had forgotten about Dyango, and now his scent must be all over him. "You saw that young man again?"

Aaron sighed.

"Well, he found me when I was heading back.", it was true. He hadn't have any intentions of seeing Dyango at all, though he wanted to. "You don't like him?", Aaron was starting to worry if Lucian didn't like Dyango at all.

"…Just a bit.", said Lucian. "I don't completely trust him yet, but I sense he is no harm for you, especially.", when his mate giggled, the vampire kissed his forehead, hugging him again.

When the boy went to tell Ernest and the other he had returned, he and Lucian curled up on their spot, covered themselves with the sheets and blankets and went to sleep. It was still nighttime but tomorrow was going to be an intense day, as Alice foreseen.

Around noon, both of them woke up. The rest of the vampires was still sleeping, even Dumas and Nish, but the humans were all up. Once they had breakfast (Lucian drank a bit of Aaron's blood that day), they started to see what Oyan's moves from the computer were. Alice was still angry because he couldn't figure out what was inside the strange and black barrier that Nish couldn't break. She expected it to be some sort of machine, a huge one as Dumas had told them, but wasn't sure of it. With that size, Oyan could hide anything there, from a machine to other type of weapons to use against vampires. Sending someone to look up was rather risky since they didn't know the composition of it, and didn't know either if a normal vampire could break it. They decided to ignore it for the moment and focus in the patron of attacking for that night. The soldiers were going to reach the Guild in a few hours and Oyan will have his reinforcements soon. Ernest, Kay and Lucian discussed the plan for that night while the others went outside to patrol the Hideout area.

About three in the afternoon, Dumas woke up. He was still sleepy after staying up all night, but he couldn't sleep anymore. The wait was killing him. Yesterday night he hadn't went to the first fight because Nish didn't let him, worrying about the former Duke's health. Perrault also expressed her opinion about and suggested to her master to stay in the Hideout, helping and taking care of the families sheltering from the North gunslingers and the war itself. Dumas, much like Aaron, refused the idea of staying without helping the others in fight, but understood rather quick and, with Nish, both of them stayed. Now, it seemed that Nish was going out tonight and, again, Dumas was going to stay, which he didn't like at all.

The horned man yawned, curling besides the sleeping albino vampire. He had noticed how clingy was to him and how good he felt by staying at his side. Dumas didn't know if it was because he was feeling love for him, or was just developing a simple friendship. Nish's feelings were very clear, though; he loved Dumas, but the former Duke didn't know if he loved the albino vampire back, he didn't know if it was ready to open his heart again. He didn't want Nish to go away, but didn't want him exactly so close. In truth, Dumas didn't know anything.

The albino man was a very nice person. He could socialize with everyone he came across with, he was very helpful with others, he laughed for everything making his friends laughs too, and he enjoyed life. But the biggest passion he had was the former Duke. Nish saw in him everything he lacked off and loved him for the person he was. He knew that Dumas could be shy sometimes and rather clumsy, but his strong personality was something the albino admired. He wasn't a man that one could easily step on, as Dumas would bite back if someone bit him first. He was very intelligent and cautious; so perceptive of his surroundings. Besides being physically attractive, those were other things that Nish liked about Dumas. The man can be soft and caring when he wants to, sharing his soft side with him when they were alone. Dumas often liked to curl on his body, feeling the warmth from it, sleep on him. Those simply things were the ones that makes him so important to Nish, since the partners he had before only wanted him because he was a strong and optimal mate for their children. They never really cared about the person inside his body, but Nish knew that Dumas cared for that even if the man says he doesn't.

Nish stared at Dumas. He had awoken long ago, but remained silent while holding Dumas in his arms and thinking about the two of them. The horned man seemed to be thinking to, in what Nish asked to himself, while possibly waiting for him to wake up. It was a beautiful sight and the albino vampire didn't want to miss it, he didn't know how many times more he could enjoy something like that.

What they were going to do after the war was over? Nish really desired to mate with Dumas at the end of it; he wanted to show Dumas that his feelings were strong and real, that he hadn't to be afraid of opening his heart again. He knew how it hurt, but one couldn't have their heart closed for the rest of ones life. He had to be cautious about that, showing Dumas that he had another chance to be the man he always had been but hide when he killed Ratatosk and took the title of Duke. Nish was succeeding at that, something that was lighting him, but other issues were still to be fixed. He needed a perfect moment for both of them in where he could finally mate with Dumas after the man had given his permission to do so.

And after all that, after the war, were they going to stay in the East? Nish knew the man wasn't going to like it if he suggested him to leave, since he had made new friends and family after eleven long years. But, where were going to live? The city would be destroyed when the war ends and they're not going to be a lot of houses still on their feet. They would need to rebuild them and that would take time; how much, he didn't know. The population was going to descend quiet a lot, only living vampires with humans and probably other people from other cities were going to come to the East when the rumor of a city where vampires and humans were living together in peace spreads. They had a lot of work to do when the war was over.

"You are awake, aren't you?", came Dumas' voice. Nish smiled. It was a pleasant sound to his ears.

"Indeed I am.", replied the vampire. "Did you sleep well?", Dumas nodded on his chest, receiving Nish's caress on his head.

"…Were you watching me?"

"Yes.", he could feel that Dumas was blushing and smiled again. "Why do you blush like that?"

"I'm not… that used still…", came his response.

"But you like it.", Nish kissed Dumas' left cheek.

"Who wouldn't?", came the horned man's reply, along with a naughty smile on his face. "What were you thinking of?"

"Ah…", he smiled, nibbling Dumas ear. "That's a secret."

They decided to go outside after taking some of the medical blood that were inside the boxes with ice. Sneaking out, both vampires walked in the woods, hand by hand, while eating the blood. It was a nice day despite of being in a middle of a war. The sky was clear and the Sun was bright as ever. Acuna was desert. No one was around, not even the humans that attacked Vanargandr yesterday. Dumas asked Nish where they would hide, but the albino didn't know either. They would have chosen a place underground to stay or Oyan might have provided them one.

The houses, most of them, weren't that bad as they thought. Sure, they had gun scars everywhere due to the solar bullets, but they were still on their feet. The explosives destroyed a few of them, but Acuna was a huge city. Although with the new group coming from the North, they didn't know if Acuna was going to stay like that for a few more days.

They continued walking towards Thirteenth Street, dropping the blood bags inside a trashcan when they come into one, and walked around. It was mostly infested with monsters, but occasionally they had run across some humans in it. It was rare, since vampires were still guarding it unless they were mere food held captive in it, like Dumas did once in New Culiacan. He now felt sorry for them, after all he did, but he knew that what he did now was not going to change what he did in the past, nor people was going to accept and forget the way he treated the humans in New Culiacan. Though he didn't know how vampires managed to live there when the local Guild was next to Thirteenth Street. Could it be that those humans were able to walk because all the vampires have been already killed? Or most of them were in the Hideout, helping them against Oyan? Could it be, too, that Oyan is making them stay there without moving until he manages to defeat Lucian and Ernest, and everyone that is with them? Dumas hoped that everyone in there had left and found a place where to hide until all was over, if not, he hoped that their souls were at last resting in peace.

"Not there.", said Dumas when Nish kept walking in straight path. "If you keep going, you will run into the Guild."

"What?", the albino turned around. "Thirteenth Street connects with the Guild?", the man nodded.

"That's why Ernest and the others could appear in no time when people needed it.", explained the man, being followed by Nish. He decided to turn on the right. "Having their Guild in a place like this it gave them a bit of advantage."

The monsters walked near them before disappearing in strange and lonely hallways. There wasn't anything interesting to see, but after walking for a few hours in it, Nish and Dumas started to feel that they were being not followed, but watched. The albino looked around as if he was eyeing the street, but was instead looking for the ones that were following them. He saw a black figure walking from time to time on the roof houses, but it was all clothed up. Nish thought if it wasn't Oyan's spy that was following them. It wouldn't be a surprise; after all, they were near the Guild. He commented it to Dumas, and the man agreed with it. He couldn't think a reason of why the spy could be following them, but they decided to play as they haven't seen him yet.

Nish squeezed Dumas' hand lightly and smiled when the man blushed deeply. He suppressed a small laugh coming out from his throat. Nish couldn't help it. The scene was very cute. He liked to see how his actions had that reaction on Dumas. That meant the man was confused about his feelings, but was slowly accepting them if he let Nish stay around still. He was happy to see that, even if the wait was killing him. He wanted to mate Dumas already. He didn't know if he was going to come back alive from tonight's fight but he was going to do anything at his hand to return to him. Nish will hate himself for the rest of his afterlife for leaving Dumas alone, now that he needed someone to be with more than ever. The man was fragile even when he tried to act like a strong being, and Nish was thinking that Rymer had seen it too, and that's why he protected Dumas with all his soul.

He couldn't picture Rymer even when Dumas had described him too well. Nish was a bit jealous of him. The man knew Dumas so well, but he wasn't losing hopes. He knew he was going to get him sooner or later, but the thought of another one being Dumas' first was bugging Nish, though the man didn't care a lot about that. It just bugged him, that's all. He also tried to picture Lucian's feelings when he found out that Rymer was Dumas' mate from Aaron's mouth. The Dark Swordsman had said he would find another way to beat him then, but in order to open the Gate of Binding, he would have killed Rymer still. But then again, he would have to fight him before Dumas, probably, since the man was going to protect his mate from any danger. In the end, Lucian didn't have a choice but to kill Rymer, and Dumas would inevitably suffer for his lost either way.

What had pushed Dumas to become the man he was four years ago? In matter of years, Dumas was a newborn vampire, supposing it was Ratatosk who transformed him. He could have been easily influenced by this strong vampire and, in the back of his mind, wanted to be like him. Nish didn't know from where or how he managed to kill Ratatosk, if he did it alone or if he had the vampires that worked for him later already with him back then. If Stoker and the Poes where under Ratatosk's hands years ago, Dumas might have convinced them in killing their king and becoming the true rulers of the planet. Perhaps Stoker had a second thought about it, since he was a very experimented and intelligent vampire, but the Poes being young might had agreed immediately. But, what about Polidori, the so-called Immortal? Was he, also, with Ratatosk? Or did he descended to the planet after seeing how strong was Dumas? And Perrault? There were many questions that Nish didn't know the answer, but didn't want to ask Dumas fearing he could hurt the man with them.

Polidori was, as he called himself, a ruler of the cosmos, of the Galaxy, and gave to the vampires the technology to let them govern the planet. The paraSol, a system device that blocked the Sun's light, was the main fortress for vampires as well as Immortals. The Casket Armors were another thing that Polidori gave them capable of reflecting the solar bullets from the solar guns the gunslingers used and, with the Terrennials, Polidori was able to let each armor had an specific element, having different abilities thanks to them. Perrault always sticks with Dumas but Nish couldn't understand how and where they met each other. If the Terrennials were the ones protecting the planet from humans and vampires then, why Perrault sticks with him? But then again, Dumas was a man capable of convincing anyone that came across with. He could easily get everything he needed and complete his plan.

Ratatosk had the Beast of Destruction, Vanargandr, with him and was invincible with it. But Dumas managed to kill him, and Nish knew the Puppeteer was much stronger than Dumas and the rest of the vampires together. Ratatosk, using Vanargandr, could easily kill them all without effort, but yet he ended up dead. What happened to Vanargandr? He fairly knew thanks to what Dumas told him and what his late partners did, that Ratatosk had a vessel for that Beast. That vessel was fused with Vanargandr and the vampire could control the Beast by controlling the vessel with his Puppet Needles. Ratatosk did have Vanargandr under his hands in the last war, but he was a lot weaker, like if he hadn't the Beast's powers with him, only his body. Could it be that the vessel managed to escape? But it couldn't, it was controlled by the needles, unless the vessel get rid of them. The less it had, the less Ratatosk could control it. Maybe it was that way that it could escape and how Ratatosk found his dead at Dumas' hands.

What happened to that vessel? If it run away, then where it was? It couldn't have survived after all the things it had to endure while staying in Ratatosk's castle. In a situation where vampires were highly hated, it didn't have a chance of asking help. Gunslingers and other humans would think the vessel was a vampire and would kill it. It had to hide until everything was over. But another question suddenly popped; if the vessel had Vanargandr's powers, then how the Dark Sword had its powers? How could Lucian summon the Beast if it was in another's body? Unless when the Beast was sealed, the spirit of it left the vessel to return to its original body, to the sword. Maybe that's why Lucian could summon it, but Nish wasn't completely convinced. The newborn vampire certainly had something to do with that.

"Isn't tomorrow Full Moon?", suddenly asked Dumas. The former Duke was starting to feel uneasy with the heavy silence Nish's thoughts were doing.

"Yeah.", lazily answered the other. He was still in deep thinking, but then all the ideas and situations of the vessel, Vanargandr and Lucian faded out as he remembered one thing. "Mating season!", he cried.

"So what?"

"So what?", repeated Nish, stopping and looking at Dumas. "Mating season! How are, we, vampires going to fight if we are only concerned in getting laid?!"

Dumas started to laugh loudly at Nish amusement, but the albino wasn't exactly finding it funny.

"Why do you laugh? It's not funny!", the ice vampire groaned.

"We don't also look forwards to fuck. Our mood changes too, and we become more aggressive.", answered Dumas. "Ernest and Lucian might want to take advantage of that and Oyan's careless about it."

"Hoooow?!", cried Nish again. "We will not want to leave the Hideout because we will want to fuck!!"

Dumas sighed.

"We will be able to get outside the Hideout. Lucian has some pills that will reduce a little bit our ranging hormones.", explained the horned man. "He got it from Sheridan when we were staying at his place."

"You sure those pills works?", Dumas shook his head. "So, this will be the first time we are going to try it?"

"Possibly. We don't lose anything trying them."

When they decided to return, it was already late. The Sun set long ago and the Moon was slowly rising from the horizon. The time to fight was getting closer and closer. Dumas and Nish made it to the Hideout and prepared themselves to fight. Lucian was in his usual state, calm but growing anxious at each passing second. The rest were also preparing, trying to calm down, and staying with their families and friends. Ernest was fixing his Dragoon while Kay was lubricating the twin guns Ninja. But Aaron was standing besides a window, arms crossed over his chest, his gaze fixed into the nothingness, not really caring about the things happening around him. He had an expression of being in deep thought, often touching the right side of his neck.

The boy had been arguing with Ernest and Lucian while Dumas and Nish were gone. He was definitely going to fight this time, but both men were being stubborn with him once more. Aaron couldn't take it anymore; he wasn't a kid and he knew how to take care of himself, and was going to prove it even if Lucian and Ernest didn't like it at all. He was going to fight and was going to protect those who were important to him. This time, he was not going to stay and wait for them to return. Besides his loyal Knight, he had a new power he could use while fighting. His dark powers were slowly growing stronger and Lucian was now aware of it, knowing that the young man had a lot to do with it. He must have been the one that told him about that and the one that had trained him in order to use them. But that wasn't concerning Lucian right now. The next day Full Moon phase will start, and his body was already shivering at the kinky thoughts his mind was thinking. Several times before, when Dumas and Nish were out, he tried to get a hand on Aaron, but the boy rejected him every time. That left the vampire in a needy state and very horny, having to release by himself or taking several really cold showers in less than an hour.

But Aaron had it though, too. As a vampire's mate, he was starting to feel Lucian's change of moods, and his hormones, too. Aaron noticed it when he started to feel lightly hot when Lucian was around him, something that never happened before. His body was naturally responding to his mate's one, and he didn't know if it was a natural thing being Full Moon phase close, or if he was going to be like this every time he stays around Lucian. He desperately wanted to jump on the vampire, but didn't seem right to do it in the Hideout, where everyone could listen or suddenly run into them when they were in the middle of their act. And being Aaron the boy he was, he surely didn't want that to happen and for it, he rejected Lucian's alluring ideas.

Ernest's shouts were the ones that made Aaron return to reality. The man was gathering everyone before leaving. The boy knew he wasn't going to be able to get out of the Hideout if he didn't leave before them, and that was what he was going to do. Leaving the window's spot, he looked up for his Knight, he put on his usual gunslinger's clothes, the boots, gloves and some armor over the thin black sleeveless shirt. Once ready, Aaron decided to run away from the Hideout using one of the same windows. He stepped outside and run towards Acuna.

No one noticed Aaron's run off. Ernest, Lucian and the rest left the Hideout and went straight to Acuna. The vampires were all wearing the armor underneath their normal clothes, while Lucian and Dumas were still using their old ones. They might be now kinda old, but they worked still. The group divided in two, and Ernest took another path, as they were a few meters away from the city. Lucian disappeared in the shadows and Nish and Dumas were left alone with the second group. The night was clear and the Moon was lighting everything under it with its almost full circle. Everything was in silence, but each vampire could hear the gunslinger's breaths and heartbeats, everyone hiding before attacking.

Just as the clock tower's bells announced eight in the evening, Oyan and his men decided to come out from their hiding places to attack.

The first crash was rather violent. Both groups attacked at the same time to the enemy, to the vampires, and took them lightly of surprise, not knowing they would move at the bell's sound. Everyone started to counterattack, but Lucian was still hiding in the shadows, waiting. The number of gunslingers was still low, and he knew Oyan had asked for Froggy's help. Lucian was waiting for Froggy's move, one of Oyan's cards under his sleeve. He wanted to destroy him already and then continue with the rest, until no one was staying alive on the street. Lucian grinned in the shadows. He couldn't wait for it.

On the other hand, Aaron was slowly approaching one of the fights. He was lucky that Lucian was concentrating into Oyan, who was on the first group that attacked, while the boy stayed with the second group, far on the east part of Acuna. But Ernest was there, as soon as he noticed, and tried to fight and remain unseen. He knew it was going to be hard but he couldn't stay doing nothing anymore. The gunslingers were strong, but his years inside the Guild and the ones he spent with Lucian were something that made difference between him and the others, as he could easily dodge and anticipate the enemy's move, giving to him a small advantage towards them. But Aaron was still reluctant in killing the gunslingers. He saw the vampires, even Ernest, killing without doubt, but he couldn't just do it. Although when one of the north gunslingers tried to kill him, Aaron took the Knight and shot straight into his head, much like Dyango did when saved him time ago. The man's blood poured from the wound like a red river and the body fall on the ground, lifeless.

Aaron gasped. He just… He just…

He gripped his teeth when a rookie from the North tackled him. But Aaron groaned as he took the boy's arm and shoves it off from his body, smashing him on the floor, aiming and shooting afterwards, not thinking. Aaron gasped again. What was with him? This wasn't like him at all. He knew Ernest was that type of man but him… Aaron scared about this new face of his own, run away from the fight, turning into a hallway, hiding. He stopped, trembling. What was with him? What was happening to him? He wasn't this aggressive nor had this murderous feeling deep in him, at last not back then. Was a side effect of the dark energy? Was a sudden change of personality because he was now a vampire's mate? Was he actually getting the curse? The last question made him shiver in fear. He wasn't ready to change that much, he wasn't ready to renounce to his humanity; he wasn't ready to give up all his human memory, all his feelings, all his friends, his only love. What if he transforms into a vampire and forgets about Lucian? Aaron whined, putting his hands on his mouth, small tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Why that face?", asked someone appearing from the shadows and, to Aaron's relief, it was Dyango. "Did you just notice something new?"

But instead of being happy, Aaron growled angrily.

"You knew about this!!", he yelled to the young man. "You knew the dark powers were going to affect me sooner or later!!"

"You must had been a fool to think otherwise!!", replied Dyango, grinning and showing his fangs. Aaron could notice that, this time, his eyes weren't the usual calm grey; they were shining in a bright red, and they were slowly being dyed in this bright color too. "Dark Matter doesn't make exceptions. It corrupts the body of where it is staying, having a vaccine or not.", Dyango titled his head to the left. "Thought yours it's corrupting your young and fragile body slower since you are a vampire's mate.", his grin went wider. "Isn't that nice?"

"Who the fuck are you!?", demanded Aaron in a loud voice, gripping his Knight tightly and aiming to the man, who didn't move an inch.

"Why do you fucking care?", answered Dyango as his shadow grew bigger and stepped out from the floor. "You have a fight to win, someone to protect, and someone that's waiting for you to return. You should not give a shit about me right now, since your precious person is about to get killed."

Dark Shadow appeared but morphed instants later into a strange vampire with extremely long and crimson hair. This form was as tall as Dyango and his clean and white clothes made a huge contrast with the young man's ones. The fluffy collar around his neck and the long, black whip around his waist were the last things completing this strange image. Aaron looked at it, he hadn't seen anyone like that before. He could tell the form was a male, but his androgynous appearance made it difficult to tell.

"Let's heat up things a bit…", mumbled Dark Shadow as he disappeared in said shadows, just when a metal screech echoed in Acuna.

Aaron turned around, watching a huge, green serpent machine rising above the buildings, producing that noise again. It must be Oyan's new weapon, perhaps the one that was being covered by the barrier! Aaron gasped at the immense machine, thinking that Ernest, Lucian and the others were going to be in deep problems.

"You knew about this, too?", asked the boy, looking at Dyango with burning anger in his eyes.

The young man laughed.

"Think, boy.", said Dyango. "I'm not friend or foe, why would I ever tell you about it?"

"Fuck you.", was Aaron's last words as he run back to the fight, more especially, towards the strange machine.

The young man purred, jumping to the nearest roof, watching from there all the chaos that Nidhoggr's machine brought. The vampires were all puzzled at it and most of them didn't know what to do, not even Ernest, who was watching the strange serpent with fear. The vampires started to attack with their usual shadow powers, but they were no use against the strong iron protection from the machine. Nidhoggr had rebuilt the shield to resist those attacks, having a huge advantage against them. He fired his laser cannons, breaking the ground floor underneath the vampires, killing and mutilating a few of them with that attack.

At first, Nidhoggr didn't want to bring out his machine, since he didn't know if Lucian was going to attend that night. But Alexander ended up convincing him and in the next second, he was riding his machine, sneaking into Acuna, hiding with the camouflage ability of it. He grew really impatient about the fight, wanting to start right now, but had to wait and, when it started, he truly couldn't help himself and revealed his presence to the others by attacking them. Nidhoggr's main target was to see where the hell was Lucian hiding and trying in getting it out from his spot.

Which wasn't that hard, actually.

The vampire soon reveled himself before the huge machine, finishing his transform to his full form. A tail has grown from his back, following the column until stretching out from it, all made from bones. Lucian looked up, the Machine King looked back. The vampire grinned.

"I knew it was you.", Lucian murmured, snapping his knuckles. "It looks like you managed to survive."

"I can say the same thing to you, Dark Swordsman.", replied Nidhoggr, his voice sounding like some sort of obsolete robot. "Although you don't stand a chance against this new Machine King."

"We will see.", he opened his wings and jumped in the air, agitating his tail behind him. "If we don't try, how we will know, then?"

Lucian roared, launching towards the green serpent, slashing it with his claws, dealing small damage to it. But this didn't stop him as the vampire attacked again, but got hit by the machine's tail. The nearest wall from a house, hurting his left side of his body, stopped Lucian's fall. His fall was followed by several missiles Nidhoggr sent, but some of them exploded before hitting Lucian thanks to his long, boney tail. Other reached their target, and the vampire received severe damage from them. He was getting pissed at the kid. Growling, Lucian's hands shone in a red light before summoning shadows at will, going straight up towards the machine that, being the agile reptile it was now, dodged them easily.

The serpent slipped back and rushed forwards suddenly, not giving Lucian time enough to think in a possible way to block or run, as the head of the machine hit him on his middle body, making him throw up some blood and stomach acid all over the snout of the serpent. His air was also cut from the hard hit, and his lungs were desperately trying to reach the minimum of oxygen his mouth could inhale. But Nidhoggr didn't let him a chance to recuperate. Using the teeth of the machine, he lifted Lucian by his wings and threw him again on the floor, hearing him moan in pain as he tried to stand up.

Lucian cursed under his breath, feeling the blood slip from his mouth to his chin, and then, to the floor. His middle section was burning in pain; his insides were hurting like hell. Dumas said Nidhoggr sucked at alchemy and there was no other way he could have done those upgrades without it. He had to admit, he had underestimated the vampire kid and though he didn't learn alchemy in all those years. Lucian grinned, spitting some of the blood to the ground as he stood up, swinging his tail again.

The battle continued for another thirteen minutes. After that time, Nidhoggr saw that his machine was starting to get abused by Lucian's claws and tail, while the vampire was already getting tired of doing the same thing over and over again, but thanks to the first hard hit, he was slowly weakling. The amount of time left to keep moving was counted, yet he didn't know how much time he had before that. Lucian was waiting for the next attack when, suddenly, his right arm shot upwards. Confused, the man watched his limb, trying to get it down. But it wasn't responding. What was happening? He tried to move, but his feet were like glued to the ground, and his other arm was slowly getting numb. He knew that feeling… He knew it very well…

Lucian heard the machine flop on the ground and the jaws opened, letting Nidhoggr come out from it, holding a strange amulet in his hand.

"How the fuck are you doing this?", asked Lucian, his eyes glowing in rage.

"With the needles.", answered Nidhoggr, seeing with pleasure the man's scared expression.

"I removed them all! I did it all by myself, I hadn't forgotten a single one!!", shouted, moving in the invisible ties. "I removed them completely!!"

"Then how do you explain that I'm controlling you, if you don't have any needles left?", the vampire boy approached the man. He looked at him straight into his eyes, lifting his head up seeing that he was still shorter than Lucian. "Or is it that you really forgot one?"

"What are you talking about?!", yelled the man, swinging his tail dangerously. He couldn't do much in that position, seeing that Nidhoggr could easily dodge his attack. "I removed them all!", Lucian flinched when the other placed a hand on his chest.

"Not this one.", his hand went through the armor and inside his body. Lucian growled, angry that Nidhoggr was touching something that belonged to Aaron, but soon started to shake when the boy was taking out nothing else but Vanargandr, the Dark Sword. "And with the help of this friend…", he took the sword with both of his hands (even when he was a vampire, the weapon was still heavy for some reason), murmured some words that forced Lucian to the ground and, without waiting, impaled the sword on Lucian's body, the blood quickly leaving the body through the weapon. "I will achieve what Ratatosk couldn't do."

The sword's crimson eye opened violently, shaking in excitement. The two halves started to open, too, making the wound wider and bleed even more. Lucian growled in pain, unable to do anything in his stun state. He only could watch how Vanargandr's spirit was slowly taking over his body, dying it in black like the weapon itself.

"Should I remember you I'm not exactly a submissive bitch?", growled Lucian when only his head was left from the strange curse. His hands changed into long claws, and his legs morphed into canid ones. His once boney tail transformed into a wolf-alike one, black as the night.

"You will be in a mere of seconds.", assured Nidhoggr seeing how the curse took completely control of Lucian. Over his head, it grew a pair of wolf ears that twitched quickly when the sword melted over the vampire's body. The red eye of it was now placed in the middle of Lucian's chest, glowing in a bright red light. "Let's see if you can be my new toy."

Murmuring another thing, he ordered Lucian to stand up. He grinned widely when the controlled vampire obey, standing in his now taller form, growling under his breath, his eyes dull and empty, not responding to his normal self, which was buried deep inside his brain thanks to Vanargandr's power. Just when Nidhoggr thought nothing else could go wrong, Lucian started to change again, this time, to a more animal shape. The vampire boy feared that Vanargandr tried to return to its original form and that was what exactly happened. In matter of seconds, before him was a bigger wolf from the first time, with eight red eyes looking around, with a death aura all around him. His fangs and teeth were seen under the moonlight and his paws, dyed with blood, were tainting the ground underneath them.

"Never knew Vanargandr's power could make you like this.", mumbled Nidhoggr, seeing how the Beast was waiting for new orders, despite that he knew the one ordering him wasn't his true 'master'. "Well, why don't you go and kill the vampires that are getting in my way, eh?"

Moving against his will, Lucian roared, launching towards the remaining group of vampires and attacking them without doubt, using the dark powers within the Beast to do so. Nidhoggr returned to his machine and wet behind Lucian, trying to catch the ones that managed to escape from his sudden rampage.

This whole time Aaron had been watching, not knowing what to do when Nidhoggr had captured his mate. He couldn't risk being caught, he couldn't attack the vampire boy from such distance, and he didn't know if that huge machine could spot him once he had fired. Having to watch was worst than knowing your mate had become a killer beast without knowing that was ally or foe. He still didn't know why Dark Shadow morphed into that strange crimson, haired man or why Dyango suddenly turns over him in such tight and dangerous situation. Aaron didn't know what to do. He wanted to go out and help, but a force stronger than his will was making him stay where he was, in a dark hallway, protected by the walls of the houses around him. Not even his voice could leave his throat, so he couldn't yell or say anything, not even when the group of vampires was starting to shrink at an alarming speed thanks to Lucian's new form and Nidhoggr's machine.

But the worst was only beginning. No one expected to Lucian suddenly go crazy, berserk. He had lost control of his emotions, roaring, growling and biting the air like mad, his air all spiked up, his tail shot up in the air as a sign of aggression. He was mad, really mad. Aaron could make it to the battle field, seeing how the vampires were escaping with Ernest's help. Gasping, the boy saw how Dark Shadow was mocking his mate, hitting him with the long and black whip, floating around him, cursing him, humiliating him. Why he was doing all this? Who was that image that made Lucian so mad, so angry? Who was that man that might have done something in Lucian's past that made the vampire hates him so much? But one thing was for sure; if no one stopped Lucian's rampage, then Acuna and everyone in it was going to disappear.

Dark Shadow got hit by one of the wolf's paws, crushing under an old building. Lucian panted hard and deep, his hair still up, his eight eyes glowing brightly. His emotions were a whirlwind; he couldn't control them since he was fused with Vanargandr. But he wanted that man dead, he wanted him reduced to ashes, he wanted to choke him with that fucking whip of his. He roared again, releasing his shadows that started to envelop the whole area. Nidhoggr tried to stop him but Lucian wasn't listening anymore.

Aaron and Nidhoggr saw with surprise how Dyango jumped from the nearest roof to Lucian's back, not fearing the angry man at all. The vampire noticed it and started to move, wanting to get Dyango off his back, but failing miserably. The shadows stopped their walk for a moment as they slowly returned to Lucian, attacking Dyango as the man stuck a hand inside the wolf and, when he grabbed what he wanted, left, landing on the ground. As the others saw, he was holding Dark Lance Jormungandr with both of his hands.

"You are not the only one capable of doing that!!", shouted the man, as he impaled the lance in his middle section like the vampire boy had done with Lucian and the dark sword.

It happened the same that it did with Lucian but, instead of becoming a big wolf, Dyango turned into a winged snake with eight red eyes. His jaws opened horizontal rather than vertical, and his wings were huge enough to let him, if he wanted, fly. Dyango hissed, showing his forked tongue before launching towards Lucian, who roared back, biting the snake's head and kicking him with his back legs. Dyango coiled back head-butting Lucian's middle section and making him throw up blood once more. Angry, the wolf growled and sneaked to Dyango's right, dodging his tail attack and jumping on him, sinking his fangs and teeth over the scaled skin of the snake, pouring blood from the wound and hearing Dyango moan in pain.

Being a snake, he coiled around and bit Lucian's back, trying to get him off his body and making him fall on the ground, but the wolf was being stubborn, spreading his legs to find more support, sinking his fangs deeper into the soft meat. He quickly let go to bite again, this time closer to Dyango's throat. But the young man wasn't going to finish this soon. His tail coiled around Lucian's middle and forced him to let go by constricting his lungs and stomach, preventing him to breath. The wolf roared again and, to Dyango's surprise, a bunch of shadows materialized in the form of spikes and went through his body.

Nidhoggr sneaked away. It was the perfect opportunity to let Oyan capture Lucian. Aaron stayed, watching how both Beasts crashed into each other, hurting themselves. He couldn't stand it anymore, he couldn't stand that his mate was getting hurt by a man who was trying to trust. Feeling angry with himself, he summoned his dark powers and created several spikes with it that threw towards Dyango. The spikes went through his body like the others did but, strangely, they hurt more than the others. Now that Aaron had the snake under control, he moved to his mate who tried to attack the defendless Dyango, only to be stopped by Dark Shadow, who had hit him with the whip. Lucian almost ate him when he turned around far to fast for the shadow vampire. Aaron took advantage of this situation and shot some ropes with his shadows that coiled around Lucian's wolf body, tying him up and forcing his fall on the ground.

Dyango slowly returned to his human form, bleeding messily from the wounds, holding Jormungandr in his left hand. Dark Shadow helped him to his feet, dodging one of Lucian's attacks. Looked like the ropes weren't enough to stop his rampage. The wolf broke them, stood on his feet again and prepared to attack if it wasn't for those ropes again, that coiled a second time around him. The wolf fall, once more on the ground but, this time, couldn't break free. Knowing that he couldn't, Lucian started to struggle, trying to cut the ropes but soon discovered why he couldn't; they were not only made with dark Matter, but also from blood. And not anyone's blood. It was Aaron's blood and that prevented him from moving at all.

"And to think I thought I could stop him…", whispered Dyango. Dark Shadow returned to his original form. "That kid's amazing…"

"Well, it's the Moon's mate after all.", replied the vampire boy. "It wouldn't surprise me if the kid managed to restrict his powers using only his blood."

"Let's go…", he moaned in pain, Jormungandr shaking in his hand. "The gunslingers are coming, and our little friend doesn't like that I'm separating him from the master."

Dark Shadow laughed as he disappeared with Dyango in the shadows, while Aaron was fighting against his own weakness at the moment. Having to use so much blood to stop Lucian from destroying everything had a cost. Sure, he did managed to do it, but now he could barely move due to the little blood he had left in his body, enough to make him walk towards Lucian and fall next to the wolf's snout. Aaron rested over him, panting hard, his skin losing a bit of color, but a smile was drawn on his face as he petted the soft hair if his mate. The rapid heartbeats of Lucian quickly lowered to the normal peace and his eyes were still red, but this time he was aware of his surrounds and surprised himself seeing his mate over him. He emitted a soft growl, letting Aaron know he was back.

"Ah…", Aaron panted, looking straight into his eight eyes. "Are you alright?"

"…Yes…", answered the wolf, his voice sounding a lot deeper the usual. "I thought you wouldn't stay in the Hideout like I told you."

The boy laughed.

"You guessed right.", he rubbed his right cheek against the snout, sighing. "What just happened? Why Dyango could transform like you?", before Lucian could answer, the wolf growled angrily again, his hair spiking up. "What's up n---?"

"Don't move.", said Oyan, aiming with his gun towards Aaron's head, who slowly turned around. The barrel of the weapon was placed between his eyes. "Although you can't do much in your current state.", Lucian growled again, gripping his teeth. "You can't do much, either, Dark Swordsman."

"That doesn't stop me from trying…", dared the wolf, but he knew it wasn't an option. He couldn't risk Aaron's life like that.

Two gunslingers separated the boy from the wolf, who growled again when both man grabbed Aaron, who couldn't move because of the blood lose. He was rather pale and his legs were shaking under their own weight.

"Well, I think we will have to carry you.", said Oyan, watching how the machine slipped under the wolf, placing itself comfortable for both of them. "And we need to keep you warm if we don't want you to die."

"Fuck… you…", whispered Aaron when other members gave him their jackets or coats.

Oyan laughed, ordering to his men to return to the Guild, with a smile from ear to ear. Today's hunt was surely worth.


	24. Chapter 24

24

For Aaron, the trip back to the Guild seemed longer the usual. He couldn't know if it passed minutes or hours, if they were still walking in the woods near Acuna, or it were the ones around the Guild. His senses were weak, he couldn't hear properly. And he was damn hungry. Weak, but hungry, and couldn't do anything until they arrived. So, having no strength to complain or fight back the gunslinger that was carrying him, Aaron simple sighed, moving a bit to see Nidhoggr slipping on the ground, carrying Lucian over the machine.

The wolf was still tied up with the ropes the boy created. He was furious, looking with anger at the gunslinger that was holding Aaron on his arms. Lucian growled again, but no one paid attention to him. After all, he was tied up. Lucian was surprised to see how strong those ropes were, he didn't imagine that Aaron's dark energy developed so fast. But then again, the kid learns fast. He growled again when his body shivered, his eight eyes closing for a moment. Lucian could smell his mate, that delicious scent Aaron was starting to create thanks to the dark matter in him. His hair shot up, his pupils dilating. Lucian started to struggle again, Nidhoggr having a hard time maintaining balance. The wolf was reacting to his natural instincts of mating, being Full Moon close but since he didn't have control over those reactions, he couldn't behave himself.

"Watch out behind there!!", shouted one of the gunslingers to the ones that were far in the back of the group.

Aaron felt the gunslinger that was carrying him turn around. He opened his heavy and tired eyes and locked them over Lucian, who was slowly spreading the ropes with his intense strength. The wolf was on his feet now, his legs shaking under the pressure the ropes were doing on him.

"You!!", shouted Oyan to the one that was holding Aaron. "Get the fuck away from the wolf!! I can't risk the boy getting hurt or killed!!"

Lucian's ears twitched as he heard the man's voice. He showed his teeth and fangs, crouching and growling angrily. He tried to walk but the ropes tightened hard around him, forcing Lucian to fall on the ground again, feeling how those ropes were circling his body and cutting the flesh underneath the fur. But couldn't help it. That scent his mate was creating without knowing... Did Aaron know how crazy that scent was making Lucian? The wolf growled, sniffing the air again letting that scent penetrate all his senses. He tried to move again, but his body was starting to ache from being tied up. Giving up, Lucian let Nidhoggr slip under him and keep the pace towards the Guild. Oyan calmed himself when he saw that his spy had control over the situation, but asked himself what made the wolf suddenly react that way.

Machine King separated from the group as it sneaked towards the barrier, going through it effortlessly, slowly putting Lucian on the ground as it reached one of the walls to stay there. Nidhoggr stepped outside the machine and walked towards the prisoner, watching his dilated pupils. The vampire boy hummed, knowing why Lucian suddenly had reacted the way he did. Oyan might want to know but, as soon as he discovers it's only because of the mating season, would care less about him. But Nidhoggr was concerned. Mated vampires were fifty percent more aggressive than normal vampires, but Lucian could rise that cipher without problems at an eighty percent. He couldn't leave him in that beast form since Oyan would probably want to ask him question and, doing it in the outside and with such size was going to be rather dangerous for the gunslinger.

Once again, he stuck his hands into Lucian's body, moving them until they grabbed the hilt of Vanargandr. Slowly, Nidhoggr dragged the sword from the vampire's body, hearing him moan in pain as the edges of it cut his skin. When the weapon was finally out of Lucian's body, his form begun to shrink, returning to the human form he always had. The ropes, amazingly, didn't lose up. As Lucian's shrank, the ropes did the same, adjusting to the smaller form.

"I'm amazed by that power.", said the vampire boy once Lucian returned to his human form, with Casket Armor and all. Vanargandr dissolved in air, the dark matter returning to the vampire's original body. "So, your mighty strength ended up being your mighty weakness?"

"Just shut the fuck up already.", growled the other vampire, his body shivering, something that didn't go unnoticed by Nidhoggr, who smiled.

"What's up with you and your body?", asked in a naughty tone. "Is it because Full Moon is close, or because the boy is starting to create his own aroma with those dark powers?", Lucian's eyes shone in a bright red light, but didn't reply to the question. "Do you want to spend those nights with your little boy?"

"...Are you willing to let me free? I can do whatever I want once the ropes and chains are broken.", said the man, grinning.

"Oh, you wouldn't if I were you.", Nidhoggr smiled like him. "Remember he is still human, and I have a bunch of drugs awaiting to be used."

Lucian suddenly stood up, but couldn't walk. He growled, showing his teeth and fangs.

"For your own good, you better not lay a single finger on him!!", ordered the vampire, his hair spiking up, just as it did when he was a wolf.

"Then you will do whatever we want."

"I only listen to Aaron.", said Lucian, hissing. "He is the only one that can control and boss me around."

Nidhoggr giggled.

"We will see."

The vampire boy helped Lucian walk inside the Guild, were Oyan ordered to lock the man up in one of the dungeons, while Aaron was placed in one of the jails that still had a nice bed where he could lay. Alexander was called to help and was relieved to see that the boy was still alive. They put him on the bed and covered him with the sheets and blankets, turning on an electric oven and warm up the cold jail. Aaron needed desperately a blood transfusion, at last to pass the night. In that state, he was not going to survive much more without it. Nidhoggr explained the situation to Oyan, and he acceded that he and Alexander went to see Lucian to ask if he knew Aaron's blood type.

"Wouldn't be easier if you just take a sample of his blood?", asked the leader.

"I don't want to risk my life.", answered the spy. "If he founds a little scratch on that boy, believe me, everyone will be soon knocking on Hell's doors."

Nidhoggr didn't expect Oyan to care about that, but a sudden frown made him think that he was starting to think twice before doing things. Asking Alexander's company, both of them walked towards the dungeons, opening the door from the one where Lucian was staying. The entire basement floor was damn cold, there was water filtrating from the stoned chambers. And since it was all underground, there were no open windows that lead outside, except from the one on the metal, heavy door. From it, a tiny ray of light from the lanterns hanging from the ceiling of the hallway went through it, but it wasn't enough to light everything in it.

The spy opened the door and turned on single light bulb in the room. Its light wasn't that bright since those dungeons were used to keep vampires. Bright lights, to some of them, hurt their skin and they needed them alive and conscious to answer questions. Lucian didn't seem to mind the lack of light, or the total darkness. He was on the floor, his arms up, hanging from a hook near the ceiling. The ropes were still around his body, but Oyan also ordered to put some heavy and strong chains. His head was low, not looking up when Nidhoggr called him. The vampire boy sighed and moved closer. He knew the man was awake and had to be careful. He didn't know what Lucian could do.

"I need to know what is the boy's blood type.", explained Nidhoggr. "He lost more than half of his blood in tieing you up with this rope.", continued, hoping that Lucian would react. And he did. The vampire lifted his head a little, watching him with his left eye. "I'm going to do some blood transfusions, but I need his blood type."

"I assume you are going to put some sort of strange drug in the transfusion, right?", asked in a unusual calm voice. Nidhoggr got surprised at hearing Lucian's soft voice.

"Yes, I am. But only to restore the boy's energy and blood circulation."

"He is O negative.", answered Lucian, smiling.

Alexander gasped and Nidhoggr's eyes widen. The O blood group was the global giver; it could give blood to anyone, but needed the same blood type in order to survive. And there weren't too much people with that strange blood type. The vampire boy looked at Lucian.

"Are you fucking kidding me?", asked, angrily. The smile of Lucian was something that he never liked about him. It made Nidhoggr feel uneasy.

"No, I'm not.", he laughed. "You can make him a little scratch to see it for yourself if you don't believe me.", he laughed again. "But a little scratch, you heard me? Anything bigger than that, and you will be dead."

"But if Aaron is O negative, how are we going to help him?", said Alexander to Lucian. "It's very rare for a human to be that blood type and for it it's going to be really hard to keep him alive if we don't know a human that has the same blood as him."

"Ernest is O negative too.", answered the vampire. "And I think Dumas was also an O negative type when he was still human. But now that he has changed...", he laughed again.

Seeing that Lucian wasn't going to talk anymore, both of them left. Nidhoggr thought a way how they could bring Ernest alone or ask him to give some of his blood for the boy. They didn't know where they were hiding and Aaron didn't have much time. Until they come up with something, Nidhoggr put a IV with plasma and some drugs to keep his body working. He was a bit cold, but with the plasma and the blankets, he should be fine for a few hours.

Alexander talked with Oyan about the situation and the leader agreed that they needed to ask Ernest's help to keep the boy alive, but asking was going to be trouble. The gunslingers and the vampires weren't going to let him go, thinking it was a trap. They could also use the same boy as an excuse. Ernest loved the boy like his own son and was going to do anything to help him. But, how are they going to contact the man if they didn't know their place? Alexander said that he would take care of that and, with Oyan's approve, he left the office and explained everything to Nidhoggr before going to the Guild's roof. Once there, he waited for a soft breeze to create a similar spell, carrying his message. He let it go inside the breeze and waited for its return. Reaching the Hideout will take at last an hour and, knowing Ernest, he was going to be at the Guild's doors in less than that.

Meanwhile, Oyan decided to start his questioning with Lucian. They had some time before the message reached Ernest and the man deciding to go or not. Nidhoggr had his medical kit filled with syringes and glass bottles with the drugs he normally used in interrogatories. He didn't know if they were going to affect Lucian in anyway. It could be that he was the same as Alexander, that the drugs didn't affect the Terrennial. If it was that way, then Oyan would more likely going to use the boy as an effective drug against the vampire, knowing that Lucian wasn't going to risk Aaron's life for anything.

Oyan went to the dungeon along with Alexander, Nidhoggr, Recher and Merclar. The five of them entered and Lucian lifted his head, smiling at their sight. He mostly looked at Alexander and Nidhoggr, ignoring the other three as they dragged some chairs to sit. Oyan took his and sat in front of the vampire, with the chair turned so he could put his arms over the back of it. His red hair was now dirty after the two fights he had in a row and his pinkish eyes were glimmering. The vampire smiled, showing his fangs. The chains produced a soft sound when Lucian sat on his knees.

"Hello.", said the vampire, narrowing his eyes. The smile was still on his face. "Pleased to meet you."

"No.", answered Oyan. "The pleasure is mine.", he laughed. He knew vampires had another view when they were chained against a wall and held captive, but Lucian seemed to be enjoying it for some reason. "I guess you had a nice time these two nights, right?"

"Oh, yes!", exclaimed. "I never had so much fun in years!"

"Not even when you were still human and gunslinger?"

Lucian seemed offended by those words. His smile faded and closed his eyes, before opening them again.

"Those were other times, my friend. I was coming out from a tight situation and I only helped Trinity because he was a very close friend.", answered. He groaned when he started to feel that his arms were getting numb. Not enough blood was circulating there.

"What tight situation?"

"It's something I prefer to not talk about, since it gives me a huge headache and some painful memories I rather keep buried.", a sharp slap came across his face as Oyan hit him but, instead of feeling angry, he was delighted. Lucian looked at the auburn man and smiled. "Oh, I'm sorry. That wasn't what you wanted to hear, right?", another slap came from the other side of his face.

"For your own good, you should answered those questions and say what I want to hear, like you just said.", Oyan stood up, dragging the chair and leaving it in the middle of the room. "What tight situation?", asked again.

"I rather not talk about it.", another slap came. "You can hit me all you want, but I'm not going to tell you.", he was calm, quiet. Oyan remembered when Alexander came the first time to the Guild when they captured him. They behave quiet the same. He looked at the Terrennial, who was helping Nidhoggr in filling some syringes.

"So, Trinity was a close friend of yours, right?", Lucian nodded. "How did you meet him?", he knew that the vampire wasn't going to answer the previous question but, hoping the drugs would affect him, he continued.

"Oh, it's a long story. He was a friend from a friend.", explained the man. "Like I said, he helped me through that tight situation and convinced me to join the Guild to become a Gunslinger."

"How many vampires are in Ernest's army?", Oyan changed the subject suddenly. Lucian noticed it, and asked himself if the man wanted to confuse him and then ask a question out from the blue and catch him with it. But the vampire was too cautious and Oyan didn't know that.

"Mm...", hummed Lucian. "Around... one thousand. But with the ones you killed tonight... Well, it's still a high number."

"What about those armors?", Oyan started to walk around the room. "Our bullets bounced on them, barely burning their clothes over them."

"They were made thanks to an especial man that helped us."

"Who? Alchemy Sheridan?", Lucian grinned and the man took that as a 'yes'. "So, he is helping you in this."

"No.", said the vampire. "He only made us the armors; he doesn't take part in this at all. He hates vampires, after all."

"Then, how in the hell he helped you?", this time, Recher asked. Nidhoggr gave an angry sigh to which Alexander answered with a small giggle.

"Because we helped him four years ago.", said Lucian. "He is a good man, quiet scary sometimes though."

"And what about him?", Recher pointed Alexander, who lifted his head. "I don't really like him at all.", Oyan sighed but didn't say anything. He knew that he couldn't convince Recher when he was being as stubborn as this. "He was part of your group, why he left?"

"You ask him.", answered Lucian, smiling. "I'm not inside his head to know what he thinks and how he acts. If you want answers, then you should ask him instead of me.", he laughed. "But maybe Betelgeuse can tell you after he brain-washed him, or because Froggy used too much drugs that fried his brain."

Oyan raised his eyebrows at the sudden nickname, but didn't mind it. After all, Betelgeuse was a giant red star in Orion's constellation, and perhaps the vampire gave it because of his red hair. Recher started to insult the man because of the lack of proper answers he was giving, but Merclar shut him up by hitting the shorter man with the handle of his favorite revolver on his head.

"What about Dark Terrennial Nero?", said Oyan. Lucian lifted his head and looked at him, not understanding his question. "You turned into what you are now because of the curse that went to your body thanks to the fusion with the Dark Terrennial. But if it that was the case, then you should have been transformed into a vampire in the instant the Terrennial had invaded your body.", with a joyful expression, Oyan saw how he was making Lucian uncomfortable about this. "And you left the battle field without any type of amulet that protected you from the curse! You went for one, instead!", the exclamation made the vampire jump in his place. Lucian admitted that he was starting to feel nervous. "There is no way you could have bear the curse for more than one day if you weren't already a dhampir.", he smiled, watching Lucian turn his head, avoiding his gaze. "In other words, you were already a dhampir before Trinity hired you."

"Maybe.", was the only thing that Lucian could say.

"But if that's true, then that means you were the son of a couple that consisted in a human and a vampire.", continued Oyan, walking around the room, not leaving Lucian's gaze when he lifted his head once more. "And you look near your twenties. The last war was eleven years ago. You still had that youthful appearance back then.", Oyan walked to him. "You are older than you look; you have more years than anyone in this room, probably."

"Maybe.", said again the vampire.

"Why a dhampir let a gunslinger hire him to fight against his own race?"

"Humans fights against their own race.", answered Lucian. "Black and whites fight because whites think they are better than them; just for the skin color. Mulattos, the mix between black and white, they are also in war with either the blacks or the whites, mostly the whites, for the same reason I just told you.", the vampire licked his lips. He was getting a bit thirsty. "Vampires and dhampires aren't that different from humans. Noble vampires hate dhampires because of their imperfection, of their incomplete form, of not being completely vampires. Whites hate mulattos because they aren't completely white. They are... tainted with unworthy blood, unworthy genes.", he sighed, resting on the wall behind him. "What's the difference with humans? We are all the same within inside, dead or alive, we are all the same."

"So, you hated vampires? That's why you listed in the Guild? Or it was only to return Trinity's favor?", asked Oyan.

"A little bit of both."

"Why you hated vampires?", said the man, sitting again on the chair, that he previously dragged towards Lucian. "Have they done something to you?"

"As they have done it to you.", answered Lucian with a smile. Oyan closed his mouth, his eyes fixed on the vampire's. "Your... father.", he laughed under his breath. "Poor little devil. He died at his best friend's hands... in front of your crying mother.", a hard slap came and made contact with his right cheek. "Poor little devil, that not even his son was brave enough to help him..."

"Shut the fuck up!!", cried Oyan hitting him, this time with his full fist.

"A son that made up his mind and entered the Guild to avenge his father!!", continued Lucian. "But you went far from that, you decided to kill every vampire! Ones that never bothered you, that didn't know you, that didn't know what happened in your family!!", a second fist came this time, on his other side. "You are just angry still because you couldn't help your father when you had the chance!", the vampire started to laugh. "You fucking coward! You couldn't do anything to save him!! Coooward!!", he continued to laugh, feeling Oyan's hits on his stomach. "Yes! Keep hitting me! Make that anger go away!"

"You know nothing what happened decades ago!!", yelled the man, kicking Lucian's head. Alexander gasped under his breath and Nidhoggr hoped that Oyan didn't kill the man. "Don't talk if you don't know!!"

"Oh, I know more than you think, Betelgeuse.", he moved closer to the man, their faces only millimeters away from each other. Oyan looked straight into Lucian's red eyes. "I can see through you, Betelgeuse.", whispered, smiling. "And I see a scared child, a scared child fearing to do the same mistake he did twenty five years ago.", he growled softly. "If you keep this up, you will end up killed and your father's revenge will be forgotten."

Oyan stood up, not answering. He turned around and looked at Nidhoggr and Alexander, who were waiting. On the other side of the room, Recher and Merclar were doing the same. He turned his eyes to Lucian, who was smiling. What was that man? He knew vampires could read human's thoughts, but that was from deeper scars, buried very deep in his brain. How could Lucian know about that? No one knew about his past, not even his closest men or the North Guild members. Only his mother, but she was back in the Northlands. Lucian could never meet her if he stayed in the Eastland, and he didn't know of anyone who could tell him about it. Oyan found himself in a dead end when he asked about Lucian's impulses. What he said was right, but it doesn't explain other thing.

"If you hated vampires so much, why you let the curse take your body?", asked after a few minutes of silence. "You perfectly knew that, by taking your eye-patch off, the dark powers would have free will upon your body. And yet, you went to train with your weapons, you took off your eye-patch, knowing that the curse was slowly gaining terrain.", he sat once more on the chair. "And from what my spy told me, at first you were irritated by it but then, you changed your mind. You were happy about it, you were anxious, you couldn't see the moment to finally transform into a vampire.", he put his arms over the backrest of the chair. "Why would you let yourself transform in something you hated?"

"One of the things I let myself transform was because it was pointless to keep fighting after so many years.", answered Lucian. "I had to accept the type of person I am and not reject it, as I have been doing this whole time. I honestly thought I could control the curse with the help of the weapons, that by liberating it in those weapons, the curse would slowly disappear.", the vampire sighed, his hard gaze became softer. "I made a terrible mistake when I went training, but it also made me realize that it will be not only hard for me, but also for Aaron.", Lucian looked at Oyan. "After I returned from my training, I started to feel sick, to vomit all food I ate, to not being able to drink anything besides water. I couldn't let myself weaken. Who would protect him, then?"

"One of the reasons was Trinity's son?", asked surprised the man. Lucian nodded. "But you still could protect him as a human."

"My friend, how little you know about vampirism.", said the vampire smiling. "Once the curse is in the body, it's only matter of time until it strikes. You can't remove it; you either live with it, or you let it consume your body.", he laid on the wall. "I choose the second, since the first is too hard, and you suffer a lot. But not only you, also your friends, your family, your mate. Everyone suffers from it. I couldn't risk having berserk spasms, attacking the first thing in front of me, having a sudden bloodlust, having a sudden mating season.", he shrugged. "When a human is infected with the curse, the best thing it can do is let it take it over its body."

"And lose all your precious human's memories?"

"It's up to oneself if you want to keep them.", explained Lucian. "Most humans panic when they are bitten by a vampire, and that is what the curse looks to easily destroy them. If a human is strong of mind, then its memories will stay intact even if it had been transformed into a vampire. But since most humans are weak in mind...", he left the sentence unfinished, knowing that Oyan understood perfectly. "There is... this book my mate has been reading."

"A book?", repeated the man.

"Yes, a book.", answered Lucian. "It's a book about vampires, dhampires. It explains a lot about vampire nature, how vampires react at each Moon's phase.", he smiled. "You should read it. It will make you know more about us, and perhaps it lets you think a way of beating us since your barbarian way isn't exactly working.", Alexander was about to say something, but Nidhoggr stopped him from screwing up his undercover. The Terrennial closed his mouth and continued listening.

"What about the Beasts?"

"Beasts?"

"Vanargandr and Jormungandr.", specified Oyan. "How could you summon them?"

"With spells, with my power."

"But how? You must have an incredible amount of energy to do so, and I don't think you are like that.", said the man.

"Well then... That's a secret."

After that last sentence, Lucian didn't talk anymore, even when Oyan started to abuse him physically. The drugs didn't have any effect on him, like Nidhoggr foreseen, so there was nothing to do until Aaron was feeling better. It was already three in the morning and everyone was tired. The gunslingers left the dungeon along with the Terrennial and the vampire boy, which went towards Aaron's jail and finding the boy awake. He was resting still, looking at the IV and the little drops of the saline solution that came from the bigger bag, went through the small, flexible tube, to his arm and finally, to his blood stream.

Aaron smiled at both of them when they entered, and Alexander asked to one of the rookies who were guarding the door to bring some food. Nidhoggr watched the IV and fixed a bit the needle in Aaron's arm.

"How do you feel?", asked the vampire boy.

"So weak.", said the boy. "I never felt like this before."

"You shouldn't have used that attack.", Nidhoggr sat on a little stool next to the bed. "It almost killed you."

"But at last I stopped Lucian, even if with it Oyan captured us.", Aaron sighed deeply. Talking was draining his strength faster than he thought of. "Are you Froggy?"

Nidhoggr blinked in confusion. He looked at Alexander, who nodded, and the vampire boy slipped his mask and showed his face to the boy, who smiled.

"Yes, I am."

"I'm Aaron. Pleased to meet you.", he tried to sit but with the IV stuck in his arm, he couldn't move. Alexander helped him and put the pillows behind his back so the boy could sit comfortably. "It's rare to see that a vampire is helping the gunslingers."

"I could say the same to you.", answered Nidhoggr.

"But our situation is different from yours.", Aaron put his hands over his lap and sighed a second time. Once he reunited the necessary energy to continue, he said; "You are a single vampire helping a whole community. We are a whole community fighting."

Nidhoggr stopped to think about that. Yes, he was helping Oyan in his fight, in his vampire massacre. Why? It was all after the last war. Years ago, he awoke in a dungeon, much as Lucian was now. He was tied up, beaten up near dead. He had some broken bones, bandages all over his body. His glasses were broken too, but being a vampire, he could easily see without them. Then, he smelled blood. And then he saw a man beheading a vampire that turned to ashes instants later. His body tensed up, his pupils dilating. He was captured and going to be killed! Nidhoggr couldn't find his voice, his muscles didn't obey his words of moving, of running, of escaping from that massacre. Now that he was wide-awake, he could hear the screams from other vampires, from the cries they made, from the curses, from the preys.

He was next.

Nidhoggr sighed several times, watching the gunslingers come and go. Then, it hit him. How he ended like that? He remembered being fighting with Dumas, but he go severely damaged by the solar guns from the East Gunslingers, and fell, he fell on the ground, he could smell his own blood. He lost consciousness, and perhaps was dragged to that dungeon. What happened with master Ratatosk? Was the war over? Did his master kill Dumas? Did Dumas win? What happened? Nidhoggr tried to not move, hoping the gunslingers wouldn't notice he was awake. He needed a way to get out of there, but his body was aching in pain. The wounds he had, they were severe. He cursed under his breath; he didn't know what to do.

As he thought, minutes passed. Minutes become hours, and hours days. The vampires held in the dungeons were decreasing, and he was still tied up, in that jail, with no one there. His wounds were slowly healing up. The cuts and deeper wounds were already closed. And he was still there. After a week inside that jail and when every vampire had been killed, he was fully recovered. He was healthy again even if he was as hungry as hell. He had thought a way of getting out, but now he was curious to why they left him alive.

Finally, after being at last a month in there, they took him out. Nidhoggr could see that he wasn't in the East Guild as he thought at first. The hallways and the dungeons were different, the lights, the doors, the stairs, everything. If he wasn't in the East, where he was then? The gunslingers dragged him across the corridors and went downstairs, to a darker dungeon than the ones he was staying and immediately knew it was a torture chamber thanks to the multiple chains hanging from the walls, whips, electrical devices, to name a few. Nidhoggr bit his bottom lip as he was hanged from one of the many chains, knowing that he was going to suffer quiet a bit from something he barely remembered. He remembered master Ratatosk, Dumas… and that was all. He knew the fight, the minutes before losing consciousness, some noises, and loud ones. The sky… the dark sky over him. Nidhoggr shook his head. Why he couldn't remember? Did he hit his head that hard when he fell?

He knew it was going to be the worst time he ever had. Ratatosk was bitchy, but rarely tortured his minions unless they had pissed him off real bad. The vampire boy looked up as a red haired man entered in the chamber. He was around his twenties, tall and lightly tanned. He wore a different type of uniform from the ones in the East. That made Nidhoggr sees that he wasn't in the East anymore, though he didn't know how he ended up outside it. He swallowed hard when he was left alone with this young man. The vampire boy saw him pick up a weird knife that used to tear his clothes and leave his torso uncovered. Nidhoggr's barefoot feet were also chained soon after the clothes fell on the stoned floor. Now, he couldn't move at all, he couldn't fight back even if he wanted. Nor even bite. Being that glued to the wall wasn't good for him.

"I guess you are asking yourself why we let you live this long.", started the man as he examines some whips over a table, not so far from the prisoner. "One of our men recognized you as one of Ratatosk's minions.", Nidhoggr gripped his teeth and feasted his fists. He was going to suffer, and suffer a lot. He just hoped his mind would work this time. "And we need all the information you have about him."

"Master Ratatosk is dead, I assume.", said the vampire boy, hissing and showing his fangs to the red haired man.

"Yes. Apparently, Earl had killed him after Trinity and his gunslingers fought him before.", the man picked up a short whip. "What a coward. Taking advantages of his own master like that…"

Nidhoggr cursed Dumas internally. He had never liked the horned man at all and often picked up fights with him in the middle of the corridors from Ratatosk's castle, which lead to severe punishment from the crimson haired vampire. But the man wasn't alone; he had three powerful vampires with him and was probably going to rule the planet for a few years before someone rose from the ashes from this war to stop that man. Nidhoggr thought who would do that, if the gunslingers failed in their mission. But his thoughts were blocked when a hard hit met his torso. He hissed, his eyes glowing in a bright red as he frowned, gripping his teeth, and showing his fangs. The human had hit him! The red haired man did it again, and Nidhoggr growled.

"Now, tell me your name.", ordered.

"You wouldn't believe…", spat the vampire boy, aching in pain. What had that whip that made his skin so sensitive? It was starting to hurt quiet a lot, and it wasn't even a deep wound; just a scratch.

"Why not?"

"…I don't remember my name.", Nidhoggr cried again when the man hit him five times in a row, all of them on the same place. The vampire boy feasted his fists, digging his nails in his palms. "I don't remember my name!!", screamed when a second assault came. "I swear I don't remember it!"

"Oh, come on!!", shouted the man, hitting again. "Do you expect me to believe it?!"

"How did your man found me?!", asked the boy, but a sudden and unexpected hit on his lips made him flinch. His mouth started to ache in pain and he couldn't rub it or do anything to ease that pain. Not even his saliva did enough work to minimize the damage.

"I do the questions here.", the man put the whip on his left shoulder. "And since you are a vampire, we can keep you here all the time we want until you have no further use for us, if you keep denying the information we need."

Nidhoggr sighed, as he saw the whip being lifted in the air again. And the sound of leather hitting flesh, of his own blood pouring from the wounds, of his sweat rolling on his face. He was angry. Angry because he was captured, angry because Dumas killed Ratatosk, angry because his master couldn't achieve what he and all the ones following him wanted. But mostly, he was angry because he was captured by a human, and was being tortured by one. His pride didn't let him accept that idea. He rather dies than being captured by human's hands. And yet, he didn't die. He was left alone, on a pool of his own blood to be found, healed and tortured again. It was going to be a long time until he could finally escape from that prison.

He stayed in the North Lands for five months. Five months of intense physical and mental abuse. All that time, he wasn't able to drink a single drop of blood and, because of it, he sometimes had bloodlusts and had to be chained down and tranquilized with drugs. In all that time, he hadn't said a single word that pleased Oyan, the man that was in charge of his 'interrogatory'. Nidhoggr was telling the truth, but being the human Oyan was and he being the vampire he was, didn't believe a word from him. The vampire boy didn't mind that part since it was logical for a human to not trust a vampire. But if he was saying all the same things over and over again, some one should have some sense to actually think the prisoner wasn't lying. Nidhoggr had hopes, but died soon as he heard that they were going to 'sacrifice' him, since he no longer had utility. It wasn't a surprise, either. He knew that sooner or later they would try to get rid of him, but he wasn't going to let them have that pleasure.

Nidhoggr had a plan, a good one actually. He had developed some immunity to the tranquilizer that the gunslingers gave him everytime he had a bloodlust. When they shot him with it, he forced his body to calm down and fake the drug was affecting him while, in truth, it wasn't doing anything. He was going to use that to his advantage and finally, escape from that place.

The occasion was a good one. Oyan and a group of numerous gunslingers were going to take care of a group of rebel vampires that night. That left the Guild with little men to take care of the prisoners, especially Nidhoggr, that was their most important one. The vampire boy let his beast instincts take control of his actions and soon, he had five or seven gunslingers over him trying to shot him. Nidhoggr fought back, growling and trying to bite them with his long fangs. Then, he felt the needle shot his left arm. He started to fake his tranquility, seeing how they stood up, confident. Nidhoggr pulled his chains that broke. He also broke the handcuffs that were restricting his hands from any free movement. The men were stunned, they were weaponless, they couldn't fight back as Nidhoggr jumped on them, killed them, ate them with his bloodlust.

The rest was easy. Being small and being a night creature, his prison break was easy to complete. Once he was outside the Guild, he run as he never did before, jumping on the roofs to prevent being seen by Oyan's men or any other creature that disliked vampires. And he soon made it to the East city, but what surprised him the most was that it was near midday. He looked up and saw a starry, dark night sky. What happened to the Sun? Where it went? But Nidhoggr didn't stop to think about it. He needed to gain some friends or allies now that he was free and prepare himself to return to Oyan and make him pay for what he did to him and his other fellows.

Back in the present, Alexander and Aaron were watching the silent vampire boy as he cried. Warm tears were slowly falling from his bright, red eyes. His mind was lost in the memories of his past, of a promise Nidhoggr made to himself that forgot. Being focused in Oyan's jobs for him, he forgot about it. How could he forget that promise? He had returned to Oyan to send him a trap, to trick him, to kill him for everything he did to him and his kin.

Nidhoggr turned his head to Aaron, who was watching him in silence. He lifted a gloved hand and took the glove off, drying his tears with his wrists. So many things happened in those eleven years, so many things he wanted to do but forgot. He was so immerse in the Guild's work that his priorities had step back a bit.

"Would you believe me if I told you a story?", asked the vampire boy to Aaron, breaking the long silence that prevailed in the room for who knows how much time.

The boy blinked and looked at Alexander. The Terrennial was as clueless as he was.

"What type of story?", whispered the young gunslinger. He had almost fallen asleep from the awkward silence and the IV, which was half way through.

"Would you?", asked Nidhoggr again, this time, looking at Aaron with his teary eyes. Tears kept coming from them, as he couldn't do anything to stop them.

Aaron smiled sadly. He had a feeling the spy needed to get rid of certain pain from years ago.

"Yes, I will.", answered. Alexander smiled too, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Nidhoggr copied their gestures.

"Thank you.", he dragged the stool a bit closer to the bed. "Well, it all begun eleven years ago, just when the last war broke…"


	25. Chapter 25

**Hey, hey! Dear readers! Your favorite author is back from her lovely vacations! :D **

**I decided to upload chapter 25 just for the hell of it and because of how you are enjoying it. (mm, yummy reviews...).**

**Thanks to: Kemeno, Lady Destruction Aria and Slack-jawed for the reviews!!!**

**WARNING: Contains gore stuff like humillating and graphic sadism and masochism. Sorry, couldn't resist. XD**

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25

Máximo slowly woke up. It was near three in the afternoon and the Sun was shining brightly. The rookie yawned, turning around and seeing that Alexander wasn't on his usual bed, the one on the floor next to his. Did he go out? He stood up and took the clean uniform of gunslinger that put on, the necklace resting on his chest. Máximo stepped outside his room and found that the Guild was quiet calm that warm afternoon. Curious, the rookie went out and closed the door behind him, walking in the empty corridors, looking for the others. Instead, he only found Nidhoggr resting on a couch; all covered with his clothes and, as it seemed, sleeping. Not wanting to disturb his rest, Máximo kept walking until he found out that Alexander was taking care of a prisoner that Oyan captured the night before. Máximo's partners told him where he was and went there, walking downstairs and finding the room where Aaron was being held captive.

When he entered, Aaron smiled at him and Máximo stood over the doorway, hand on the latch. Alexander turned over and told him to come. The rookie closed the door behind him and walked towards them. Now looking closer, he understood why Aaron was staying here and not in the usual dungeons. He was in a terrible state, he was pale and had bags under his eyes. The grey orbits lost all their life sparkle, he was weak. The little blood bag and the IV were staying besides him, and Máximo wondered what happened yesterday to leave a young man like him in such bad state.

Alexander resumed the incidents from last night, omitting Nidhoggr's story about his past, Ernest's fight when he had to come to the Guild to donate his blood to Aaron, and what they were going to do that same night. Seemed that Oyan and Nidhoggr had argued about it. Since it was the first night of Full Moon, vampires would be more aggressive the usual and the vampire boy suggested they didn't go out that night, wait two or three days before making their move once everything is calmed down. But being the man Oyan was, he rejected the idea, saying it would be better that way. Nidhoggr explained it would be a waste of time, effort and men if they did it, since the gunslinger didn't stand a chance upon a rabid and angry vampire. As usual, Oyan didn't listened to him and even said they could use Lucian's Beast form to attack and have more probability of wining the fight, and Nidhoggr stopped the man's speech with a loud slap on the table.

"Are you fucking insane?!", cried the vampire boy, looking at Oyan's eyes with rage in his own. Alexander was present in the meeting, along with Recher and Merclar, of course. He couldn't believe, much like Nidhoggr, that the leader had suggested something so dangerous like that. "The moment you set him free, the moment those chains breaks, we will be all dead! More if you hurt that brat!"

"Do I have to remind you that you were the one that suggested me to use Lucian's mate as a bait?", answered in a severe tone the red haired man. He was sitting behind Ernest's desk, looking at his men.

"Of course you can use him, but with intelligence! And that, my friend, is what you lack!!"

"Don't talk to me like that!!", yelled Oyan, standing up.

"Then use your damn brain and think!! Read that stupid book that Lucian told you to!", Nidhoggr dodged a slap that Oyan wanted to give him, which left the man angrier. "Now, I suggest you to let the boy stay these nights with his vampire unless you want all of us dead."

"Lucian will not be able to escape with those chains.", the man sat again, still angry.

"The brat is recuperating his energy. If he ever does, then he will break the spell upon those chains.", said the vampire boy. "The metal chains you have put on him are nothing for Lucian; he can break them very easily."

"Wouldn't the mating reanimate him?", asked Merclar. He noticed how mad was Oyan and tried to ease the tense atmosphere.

"No. The mating requires both mental and physical work. Vampires last all night and, normally, their mates keep up with their rhythm. But since the kid is in a very weak state, he is not going to last a lot without using an aphrodisiac."

"But for that, we have to take the ropes from the prisoner. Wouldn't be the same if the kid recovers himself?"

"Not necessary. Being now a vampire's mate, the kid will naturally look out for his partner, so he might lose up a bit those ropes so the man can move freely.", Nidhoggr sighed, his anger slowly fading. "He doesn't have enough power to make them go away."

Alexander seconded the vampire boy's suggestion and, surprisingly, Merclar and Recher did it too. Oyan found himself in the position of obey and, with a deep sigh, he told them to leave the office and let Nidhoggr do what it was better for them, but still didn't agree of waiting in the Guild doing nothing again. Alexander and the vampire boy went straight to Lucian's dungeon and talked with him about what they were going to do with him and Aaron, but Lucian said it was better to wait for tomorrow's night, since Aaron needed to rest after the long blood transfusion.

"He should be better by tonight.", said Nidhoggr.

Lucian shrugged.

"If he feels better, then I guess I will do it. I just don't want to tire him that bad…", said with a small smile.

Since it was only three or four in the afternoon, Nidhoggr told himself that maybe Lucian would change his mind once the heat starts. He will be so desperate for the young boy's body that he will do whatever it means to be with him. But there was a little issue that he was worrying about. A vampire as strong as Lucian was could release from his own body a scent similar to an aphrodisiac; it was a very light scent, but other vampires could easily feel it and Nidhoggr was asking himself if he wasn't going to feel affected by it. And what about Alexander? Would he too feel it? He was starting to worry about the secondary effects of having a horny vampire locked up with his mate in a Full Moon night.

The afternoon passed quickly and calm, and soon, night fell. The rookies guarding Lucian's dungeon run away from it when the vampire started to growl and hiss in the dark, symptoms of the natural heat from vampires especially when he wasn't with his mate. Oyan pity the boys and asked Nidhoggr to see what the matter was, as he chooses other gunslingers, veterans in this case, to see what was happening. He and Nidhoggr went down the dungeons and opened the door from Lucian's one, finding the vampire fighting with the blood ropes around his body. Not so surprisingly, he broke the metal chains that were stuck on the stoned wall. When he saw both men, he hissed, taking a step back.

Oyan watched the vampire carefully. In truth, it was his first time seeing one in heat, completely under the Moon's influence. Since the vampires back in his homeland were all gone, he didn't know much about their characteristics, not to talk about the ones when the Moon is in each different phase. He hadn't took in mind what Lucian had told him in reading the book that Aaron was reading since he thought the vampire was only mocking him. But thinking it again, it might be a good idea after all. Watching him like this, Oyan thought if the kid couldn't do anything about it. From what he heard from Nidhoggr, Lucian would do anything Aaron asked him to, and perhaps he could oblige the boy to drive the vampire in a state in where he wasn't himself, only a tool that responded to the brat's orders. When he discussed it with Nidhoggr and the vampire boy agreed, the leader rushed out of the dungeon and went to the jails, more precisely, to Aaron's.

The boy was now better than yesterday thanks to the blood transfusion and the plasma. He had been eating quiet a lot and the color of his skin returned finally. Since he was feeling better, they had chained him over one of the walls near the bed to prevent him from escaping. Aaron wasn't entirely recovered from the blood lose, but could at last stand up and walk without falling or feeling that his energies were draining. Oyan ordered the man outside to bring the kid over the vampire's dungeon as he and Nidhoggr stepped outside.

"But what are you exactly going to do?", said the vampire boy.

"If that kid can make Lucian go into an insane state, then we will might be able to get the answers we didn't have earlier.", explained the man.

"The brat is not going to cooperate.", said Nidhoggr as the men escorted Aaron outside the jail.

Aaron looked at both of them and arched his eyebrows, once he was out from the dark room.

"There is only one reason you have dragged me out of the jail.", said as Oyan smiled.

"You think fast, eh.", he made a hand gesture to his men as he started to walk off. The two gunslingers followed. "Then you know what I want you to do."

"May I request some… objects for me to use?"

Oyan looked back at him, while Nidhoggr muffled a small laugh.

"What type of objects?"

Lucian stretched up, yawning. Being inside the dungeon, chained up and with nothing to do led him to sleep most of the day and night. It was tiresome, as he got tired of sleeping. The blood ropes were a pain as they restricted each of his moves, not letting him do anything at all. His legs and arms frequently ended up numb because of his weird positions, not to mention that it was also hard and uncomfortable to sleep being chained up. But he didn't mind being tied up. He knew he wasn't going to be inside the dungeons for more than a week. Aaron would recover his strength and will break the magic upon the ropes to free Lucian and then, both of them escaping.

As night fell, the vampire started to feel the first symptoms of the mating season. The first one was clearly; he was getting hotter and hornier, kinky thoughts roaming his mind as the Moon slowly rose on the dark night sky. His body was starting to crave for Aaron's touches, for his body. Lucian's moans filled the dark room, his body already sweating and aroused. One of the things he hated was to not being able to be in control of his own actions and emotions. He hated being influenced by the Moon, he hated being controlled by someone else, but when it came to Aaron… he gave a damn. He would call himself a liar if he didn't say he loved to be controlled by the little boy. And if there was one thing that he liked was to be at Aaron's hands completely. Lucian didn't know if it was because of his new vampire nature, but he sure enjoyed it quite a lot. His fingers twitched as his moaned again, smiling and thinking everything his young mate could do to him while being chained up, and those thoughts weren't helping his current situation. It made him more aroused and angry that he wasn't with Aaron when Nidhoggr had promised to him he was going to spend the mating nights with him.

Lucian growled as he pushed the metal chains, feeling them fight against his strength. The vampire was truly pissed that he couldn't feel Aaron's hands on his body or touching the boy's body. His fingers twitched again in anger, as he gripped his teeth. The more he passed without his mate's presence, the angrier he was getting. But, of course, he had told Nidhoggr that he wasn't going to stay with Aaron if he wasn't feeling better after the transfusion. Lucian bit his bottom lip. He should have thought it twice. Now, he was regretting saying what he did.

When the Moon was finally over the dark night, around half past seven, Lucian could feel its influence on his body, his energy flowing in his veins as his lust was slowly taking over him. His aroused body was screaming for Aaron's touch and body, as he knew he couldn't bear it anylonger. He needed desperately his mate, and was going to do anything to be with him, but then, the ropes reminded him that, this time, he couldn't. Growling, Lucian roared and pulled the chains, breaking them with a loud metal snap. One of the links from the chain flew towards the door and made a small cut on it, making the gunslingers out jump in surprise. One of them looked inside through the little window and Lucian growled at him, digging his long nails on the stoned floor. Even when the door was closed and when Aaron was actually far away from him, Lucian could still smell that sweet scent that the dark matter was creating from being inside his body and that was driving him insane. The vampire didn't know how much longer he was going to be able to control his instincts before submitting to them. He knew that he could just go berserk, opening the door with a single kick, kill the gunslingers if they tried to stop him, search for his mate, kill all that wanted to stop him. But Lucian knew it that wasn't going to happen. He had a restriction that wasn't Nidhoggr's drugs. The same ropes were also maintaining his impulses under control and he was glad it was that way.

He didn't know when Oyan opened the door, or when the door closed. Lucian knew they were going to interrogate him again, but he didn't expect Aaron to be there too. When the boy entered the dark room looking much better than the other night, the vampire lifted his head and upper body, sighing as their eyes met. He could care less now if the gunslinger wanted answers; all Lucian wanted was those grey eyes, that hot mouth, that naughty tongue... The scent was slowly invading the room and the vampire could smell it, and that made him moan softly. Why his mate wasn't coming to him? Couldn't Aaron see he was getting impatient? Didn't he see his need? Lucian needed the boy's presence next to him right now, he wanted to sink his nose in that terse and delicate neck, play with that wild brown hair.

Lucian's eyes met Oyan's. The vampire could read his thoughts, his expression. He wanted answers and he was very confident in getting them. The vampire soon knew why they had brought Aaron to the dungeon. They were going to use him to obtain those answers. Lucian swallowed hard as Recher, the last walking in, closed the door behind him, holding some objects under his right arm. They were going to oblige Aaron to manipulate him to do what they wanted, and they knew he was going to give in because one, it was mating season and two, because it was his actual mate. He was in a tight problem. Lucian couldn't deny the need he had towards Aaron, and even when the boy was good, sometimes innocent and naïve, he could also be mean, arrogant and selfish, not to mention that the Dark Matter in his body altered much more this emotions, but in a good way. Aaron wasn't like this with anyone; he was only like this with Lucian because he knew the vampire loved being controlled by him.

"You bitch...", murmured Lucian to Oyan. "Doing something like this..."

"You should have told us what we wanted to hear when we first came.", said the auburn man.

Lucian laughed under his breath, grinning.

"Even if you ask me again, you will only hear what I want you to hear."

"We will see."

The vampire moaned when his mate kneeled in front of him. Aaron's scent penetrated Lucian's senses, making him tremble and shiver with excitement. He felt the boy's lips on his neck, his breath on his skin. Lucian smiled as he lowered his head to give Aaron a small kiss on his mouth, rubbing his nose on his and sank in those grey pools that were looking at him straight into his eyes. They were so beautiful…

Lucian tried to kiss him again, but Aaron lightly backed off from him, tracing his jawline with his index finger, feeling his heated skin. He softly blew on his eyes, making Lucian shut them for a moment. What was he doing? He opened them again and saw with satisfaction a short-range whip on his right hand. The vampire shuddered; a small moan escaping his throat as Aaron rose, murmuring some words under his breath. As the sentences left the boy's mouth, the ropes surrounding Lucian started to move in swift pace, slipping under the casket armor and tearing the soft fabric underneath the armor, slowly pulling it down, down to Lucian's waist. Aaron removed the upper part of it, watching the vampire's nipples growing hard as his pants reached his ears.

The tip of the whip pressed against the heated and sweaty skin, tracing random patterns on it, drawing a path towards Lucian's throat. It played with some sweat drops, wetting the black leather a bit. The tip rubbed under the vampire's chin, making him lift his head to watch his mate's grey eyes with his own red ones, filled with need. They were watering already, he felt the vest tight around his lower regions, and he felt uncomfortable with the clothes on. He wanted to get rid of them now; he waned to feel the coldness of the stoned floor, of the little tip playing on his skin. The whip moved upwards, tracing his lips. Lucian licked the whip and watched how it traveled between his eyes, pressing on his forehead to abruptly slip down and press on his left nipple. Lucian moaned loudly, arching his back and shivering. His fingers twitched and trembled, wanting to grab that soft skin that was just inches away from them.

And then, the first hit came.

It was violently, unexpected. Lucian moaned again, his skin aching from the sudden pain but soon craving for more. A second whip came, striking the other side of his chest. The vampire closed his eyes, biting his bottom lip, his face slowly reddening. Heavy drops of sweat rolled on his pale skin, drops the tip of the whip took on it, playing, stroking, and making circles around the nipple. Lucian looked up, his red eyes glimmering.

"Don't stand there…", he whispered. "Hit me more…", pleaded, lifting his torso towards the boy in front of him.

Aaron smiled innocently, as he didn't know what pleasure was causing to the vampire before him. He put the whip under Lucian's chin and stroked it.

"How do you ask for it?", said as he traced the vampire's neck. "You should learn some modals when treating other people."

"But some people are stupid.", answered, showing a naughty smile as he looked towards Oyan's place, along with his other two gunslinger. "I don't think they deserve to be treated well."

"Oh?", Aaron pressed the whip on the man's left cheek hard. "I wasn't talking about the stupid people you hate.", he gave a small hit on it resulting in a new moan from the vampire. "I was talking about me, on how you should treat me.", the boy pulled Lucian's bangs with his unused hand to lift his head up, the vampire gasping at the sensation, without taking his eyes from his mate. "Being your partner I deserve a better treat, don't you agree?", the man tried to kiss him but Aaron put the whip between their mouths and Lucian gave a groan. "If you don't behave, you will not have my lips."

Both of them heard someone grunt, and they supposed it was Recher. He had been talking with Oyan about the whole situation, as he hated watching both of them doing things he wasn't used to see or didn't like to see. Merclar didn't seem to have any problems with it as the rest of the presents there, but Alexander and Nidhoggr were reacting to the high aphrodisiac Lucian was releasing. It wasn't that strong to make the other humans, besides Aaron, grow in a state of sexual need, but it was enough to make the Terrennial and the vampire boy grow aroused. Alexander didn't know how much longer he could maintain his human form in presence of Lucian. He couldn't risk his undercover being discovered.

As reading his thoughts, Nidhoggr suggested him to leave, saying that they weren't feeling good around this whole thing, but Alexander said that if Oyan didn't let Recher leave because of it, they will have the same answer. Would the excuse of fixing the machine work on Oyan? Nidhoggr could say he needed to repair it after the fight with Lucian in his wolf form, but didn't know if Oyan would let Alexander go with him. Besides, if Nidhoggr asked Oyan to let them both leave, he might suspect that something was between them. If the vampire boy wanted to fulfill his revenge upon the auburn gunslinger, he needed to be careful about those things. Although Alexander's help would be amazing with his plan, he couldn't destroy the man's plan inside the Guild, as both of them wanted Oyan either dead or outside the East Lands. He needed a better excuse, but couldn't think of anyone. The only thing that Alexander could do was to wait until the aphrodisiac reached its limit to run the hell out from the dungeon to somewhere safe where he could stay without Oyan or the others know about his secret.

In the end, Nidhoggr was the only one that escaped from the dungeon. Alexander watched him leave as hi bit his bottom lip, returning his gaze towards Lucian and Aaron. He needed to get away from him soon or his human form would break because of the vampire's powers. Alexander felt Oyan's eyes on him from time to time and had to be careful about his body responding to the aphrodisiac in the air. If the auburn man noticed the smallest effects on his body, he was going to be discovered. The hit of the whip on flesh distracted Alexander from his thoughts, but his body gave a light twitch when Lucian moaned loudly, his torso having several marks from the whip that Aaron was using on him.

The vampire gasped for breath, his tongue hanging from his mouth as a thin drool line slipped outside his mouth. Aaron tossed the whip on the floor and grabbed a small, metallic object from a small table near them. He hid it with his hands and kneeled again in front of Lucian, who tried to, once again, kiss him but the boy rejected him. The man struggled, approaching his mate, but Aaron moved backwards, far away from Lucian's reach.

"Not yet.", whispered the boy, putting his index finger under the vampire's chin, lifting his head so he couldn't look what he was going to do.

As he drew the object closer, the sudden cry from Merclar made Aaron jump on his spot.

"Wait!! What the hell are you going to do with that thing?!", yelled the gunslinger.

"Mind in your own business.", answered the kid as he pressed the object on Lucian's heated skin.

The vampire gasped, feeling the intense cold from it. What was that? It was cold, it was hard… A metal weapon? No, its shape wasn't similar to a dagger or knife. The tip traced circles on his chest, but yet Lucian couldn't tell what Aaron was using. He tried to move his head but the boy had it firmly grabbed with his other hand as he worked with the strange object on his body. There weren't so many metal toys that he could think of, nor any torture method that used something similar.

"What are… Oh, Heavens…!", Lucian's eyes dilated as a gasp died in his throat when he felt pain shot from his chest. It was like a needle at first but then, it developed into a long and not so deep cut. "Are you using… a scalpel?", managed to ask as he moaned and arched his back when Aaron pressed on the wound, making it bleed. "Don't stop, don't stop!", cried the vampire.

"What have I told you about your manners?", complained the boy as he looked on Lucian's eyes. Despite being imbued with the Dark Matter, his grey eyes were still the same and Lucian thanked Heavens for that, though he didn't know for how long they would remain that way.

"Pleeeeeease?", said the vampire, frowning and trying to look cute. Aaron giggled at his try and finally kissed him, but on his forehead. Lucian grunted. "You mean and little devil…", whispered in a dark tone, grinning. "I will pay you back later."

"I will wait for it, then.", answered as he winked to him.

Oyan couldn't understand how Lucian could arouse himself with pain, and such physical pain like that. He couldn't believe how the vampire moaned, panted and tossed in the ropes, asking for more, crying in pleasure when the scalpel made a new cut, a new wound on his chest, when the scalpel played with his erected nipples, made circles on his chest, traced his neck and jawline. He knew it was a vampire thing, but never saw someone so happy about it. But as Aaron tortured his mate, Oyan noticed that Lucian's eyes turned empty. The pupil was slowly disappearing as well as the glow in them. Aaron's hands were controlling him bit by bit… Was it because of the mating cycle? Was it because it was the kid doing it? Could it be that Aaron was using his own powers to control Lucian? Or Lucian was just giving up because he enjoyed it so much that couldn't take it anymore, driving into a state where he wasn't himself anymore, as a mere doll or puppet?

The man was trembling visible, he was shaking, his body was sweating and some drops fell on the stoned floor. The smell of blood was all over the dungeon now and Recher and Merclar couldn't stand it, but made no comment of it fearing that Oyan might get angry. Alexander was sinking his claws on his arms, his eyes fixed in that red liquid that was pouring from Lucian's wounds, traveling and making irregular paths on his pale skin. The wind Terrennial sighed heavily as his inner killer slowly rose. He shouldn't be there right now, he was now becoming a dangerous threat for the boy and Lucian itself, and he didn't want to harm them. But he knew it was going to end soon as Aaron dropped the scalpel on the ground and reached over Lucian's face. The vampire's eyes were completely dull, no sign of shine, nor pupil or glow where in them. He was shaking visible, his mouth open where hard pants and other sounds were coming out as Aaron licked his right cheek, making Lucian whine and shudder.

"Just kiss me…", pleaded in a whisper Lucian, looking out for the boy's lips but not finding them. "Just kiss me, please, please…", repeated the man.

"Will you surrender completely to me?", asked Aaron, caressing the man's purple hair, now stick to his sweaty neck and face.

"Yes!", cried the vampire, opening his mouth when the boy's fingers traced them, trying to catch them.

"Will you do anything I say?"

"Yes.", Lucian whispered as he felt the soft hands of Aaron touch his lips and face.

"Will you be mine?"

"I'm already yours…", replied the vampire, gasping when he felt the hot breath of his mate upon his open mouth. "I'm already yours…", repeated.

Aaron placed his lips over Lucian's, barely touching them. This single action made the vampire move his legs in a nervous way, pulling the ropes that restricted his arms, his breaths quickly increasing. His fingers dig into his palms, harming them and opening new wounds from where blood poured. He moaned when Aaron fully placed his mouth over his, slipping his tongue inside soon fighting with Lucian's which was eager into a hard fight. But it all ended soon as the same marks from his full form appeared, giving a soft shine before fading and the vampire suddenly lost all movements.

When the boy separated himself from Lucian, instead of seeing a trace of saliva come from both mouth, the gunslingers and the Terrennial saw a black, purple and crimson trail come from them. They didn't know what it was, neither Alexander, but whatever it was, it made Lucian into a puppet at Aaron's hands, who was sitting next to him as he put his head on his chest, petting his sweaty hair as the ropes lowered his arms to the floor and tied up his wrists together. The boy had indeed made a marvelous work by controlling the vampire with his own charms and dark power, but it left him completely exhausted. He felt like he was out of blood again but at last could maintain his consciousness to prevent Lucian to answer correctly Oyan's question. Aaron sighed as he felt the vampire rise his head a bit, not looking at anything in particular.

Oyan walked closer, taking care that the boy wasn't planning to tell Lucian to attack him. He was holding his solar gun in one hand and Recher and Merclar were following close behind him. The leader crouched besides them and looked at Aaron, who nodded silently.

"When I came before, you told me something about a tight situation Trinity was helping you to go through.", started Oyan in a soft voice.

"What's with that?", said Lucian, not looking at him.

"What tight situation you were talking about?"

"I was one of Ratatosk's human slaves, prisoners, testing objects.", answered the vampire. "Years before the war from eleven years ago, Ratatosk tried to use me as a living experiment but I refused to do so but, being a simple human, couldn't do anything about it.", Oyan didn't see it, but Aaron's fingers were sinking in Lucian's head with the help of his Dark Matter, which was controlling the vampire's thoughts. "As you might know, Trinity broke into the Vambery once and rescued all the prisoners he could from it.", the auburn man nodded, not that Lucian could see or care about it. "I was one of them."

"Trinity took you to the Guild?", the vampire nodded.

"We had a spare place where we protected the ones that got stuck in between the fights between humans and vampires, gave them a place where to rest or live, depending on the case. We also gave them food and clothes and most of them, after recuperating from their wounds, left, but I decided to stay.", he snuggled closer on Aaron's chest, feeling the warmth overwhelming. "That place was buried down in the last warm thanks to Dumas."

"How did Trinity helped you?"

"Since I was an experiment, Ratatosk often used all kind of drugs on my body and developed some kind of addiction to them thanks to him. Trinity took care of me when the Abstain Syndrome would hit after being without those drugs for a while. He helped me to clean my body and, at the same time, I worked in the Guild, at first serving as a helped but then growing interested in the solar guns they used. Since he took care of me and helped me out, the less I could do was help him back in the war.", explained the vampire.

"But a rookie can't master all guns in so little time. You must had some experience with them.", said Oyan, sitting on the chair. "Where did you learn?"

Aaron and Oyan saw how Lucian growled, his eyes suddenly glowing. The boy calmed him down by whispering some words into his ear. Lucian frowned after he finished, and whispered some words back that the gunslinger couldn't hear.

"He is not going to answer the question.", said Aaron, looking up to Oyan.

The man growled angrily, but since he was getting answers at last, he let them pass that one.

"Alright.", he said and moved on. "The records say you are from the South yet I highly doubt you are from there, since Ratatosk only liked to hunt in his lands."

"That was Trinity's idea.", said Lucian. "I didn't have any ID and no one knew who I was, but Trinity trusted me and my gun abilities. He made a fake record so I could list in the Guild and work besides him."

"From where are you from, in truth?"

"I'm from the East Lands respectably."

"So, you never have been outside these lands? Never been in the South?"

"I did travel once to the South, but I'm not native from there."

Oyan arched his eyebrows, interested.

"Why did you leave these lands and went there? Was it because Ratatosk had a secret base or something?"

"Most of his experiments were held there, at last the non important ones.", answered the vampire. Aaron could tell, by messing his fingers inside his head that Lucian was lying and telling the truth at the same time. Some fragments were invented to please Oyan's ears, but it wasn't what actually happened. Aaron didn't know it either, since he couldn't see those memories, only feel them. "The rest were held either inside his own castle or in the Vambery."

"Good…", mumbled Oyan. "I really didn't have hopes in this method, but seeing that it works.", he bended over them, placing his elbows on his tights. "Who are you?"

"What?", said Aaron, hugging the vampire tighter as he felt that his head was being a mess upon that question.

"Face it, kid.", replied the man. "He hadn't aged from the past eleven years and I don't think it was thanks to the Dark Terrennial's help. There is something else, something that perhaps Ratatosk did when he was still under his hands. There is no way that he was human when Trinity rescued him from the Vambery.", then, like noticing something, he said; "Didn't you just say that Ratatosk's most important experiments were held in the Vambery?", Lucian nodded. "But you said, also, you were in the South."

"Indeed I did, but that didn't mean that he couldn't pick his prisoners and put them where he pleased.", Oyan wasn't convinced about it, but didn't dig on the matter.

"Could he have done a treatment that changed your human body?"

"It was his main objective.", giving Aaron a nod, the boy told the vampire to explain. "He had captured a boy, a especial boy decades before us were born. From the rumors I heard in the Vambery, in the castle and even in the South that boy was a Lunar Child."

"Are you referring to the tribe that lived centuries ago on the Moon Paradise, Mahoroba?", Lucian nodded again. "I thought they were extinct when they sealed Vanargandr over there."

"That's what we all thought.", continued the vampire. "He and his younger brother were the last survivors from both tribes since their parents were from the Lunar and Solar tribes, meaning that their children had in their veins the power of the Sun and the Moon themselves."

"Who were their parents?"

"I don't know.", Aaron noticed that Lucian was lying. Why he was lying? He knew the man knew more than he was saying but he wasn't going to make him tell everything to Oyan. Now that he knew that he could dominate him like this, Aaron was going to take full advantage of it but it would invade Lucian's personal life and, even being his mate, it wasn't the right thing to do. But after everything he had endured, wasn't a bit fair for him to know? At last a bit? "All I knew is that Ratatosk needed him to control Vanargandr."

"Couldn't he do it with his needles?"

"Controlling such huge and powerful beast is hard even for a vampire like him, especially because he first needed to wake it up. Since it was sealed in Mahoroba, Ratatosk needed the blood of the Moon Beauty to wake it up and, being the boy the last in his race, it was the only way he could make it. Besides waking it up, Ratatosk also offered him to the Beast, who took control of the boy and made it easier for Ratatosk to control the Beast."

"I assume that the boy's dead, right?", something about that made Oyan not trust completely in Lucian's words.

"If he was still alive I wouldn't be able to control Vanargandr."

"He doesn't necessary need to be dead for you to control it.", explained the man. "If you know the vessel of Vanargandr and made a pact with him, you could be able to use it."

"Impossible. The sword was found in the ruins of said paradise. The vessel, following your theory, couldn't be so far away from the sword since it will bring problems in controlling the Beast whiting it.", Oyan had to agree in that. "In other words, it couldn't have survived unless the vessel had the sword with it or near it."

"Alright.", the man turned the chair around and put his arms on the backrest of it. "I got a little carried away with this last subject so, why don't you tell me more about your past with Ratatosk? Let's re-start from where I asked who are you.", again, he noticed how Lucian tensed up, frowning. It must be a subject that either made him uncomfortable or there was something he was hiding. "I know you are you, that you are the Dark Swordsman, that you are Lucian but, eleven years ago you weren't a swordsman, neither Lucian.", Aaron tried to calm down the vampire as he was starting to growl and struggle. "You were a gunslinger, one of the best along with Trinity. You were human (at last we think that way), you held solar guns instead of dark weapons, and you weren't named Lucian…", the vampire hissed. "You were called Sartana.", Lucian showed Oyan his fangs as he hissed again, struggling in Aaron's arms, who was trying to use his powers to calm him down but, having used most of them in dominating him, he wasn't going to succeed. "Why would you change your name?"

"Light Terrennial Toasty was the one that actually banned me from Trinity's side. He was very attached to that man as I was, but the difference was that Toasty was jealous of my relationship with him. He often picked up on me and never liked me, and I tried to ignore it. But it's hard when you are constantly being called names and insulted in secret.", Aaron's eyes widened. Did Toasty really have done all those things? His fingers went deeper and, with a soft gasp, noticed that it was true. His memories weren't being altered, Lucian wasn't lying here. "He kicked me out from Trinity's dead place, after Dumas killed Ratatosk… I was weak; my whole body ached, seeing my best friend's body lying in front of me… I was weak in mind that time and did what I was told.", Lucian snuggled closer to Aaron, his fingers twitching as he remembered. "Trinity gave his life for mine, and Toasty wasn't happy about that. I bet he still hates me for that…", he grinned.

"You actually ditched your past for him?"

"You could say so. I didn't want to be recognized as the once best gunslinger that fought against Trinity because I wasn't. I was a new being, I had new powers to play with. I still remember Trinity, since he was all in my life back then but Toasty…", Lucian laughed under his breath and Oyan felt goosebumps when he heard it. "Toasty, Toasty, what is it going to be of you once you remember everything?"

"Remember what?", but Lucian didn't answer. Aaron whispered some words but the vampire wasn't reacting. Oyan crouched down next to him and grabbed his shoulders, shaking him. "Remember what?!"

"HANDS OFF, DICK!!", shouted Lucian as he bit down on Oyan's right arm. The man roared in anger as he punched the vampire on the face, who released him after that. "Don't touch me again, asshole!!", his eyes weren't empty anymore. The pupils returned, his glow returned. Oyan just noticed that it was because Aaron's powers weren't strong enough to keep it up. "Get the fuck lost!!"

"How dare you to hit him?!", shouted Merclar. Aaron stood and tried to protect his mate but the man shoved him aside with force. Merclar took off his weapon and pointed to an extremely angered Lucian. "You little shi---!"

Recher gasped in horror as a boney tail cut Merclar's right hand, the one holding the gun, and then proceed to rip his heart out, which was still beating.

"He… He killed him!!", whispered Recher not believing it and too scared to do something. Alexander helped Aaron to his feet as he noticed the boy had some cuts after landing roughly on the stoned floor.

"For fuck's sake…", said Lucian as he pulled the body against him. After all, he was a vampire and couldn't waste blood like that. "I told you that you couldn't lay a single hair on my mate, and yet you disobey."

"Get your dirty hands of Merclar!!", shouted Recher, grabbing the hilt of his sword but Oyan stopped him. "Leader!"

"Leave him, I can't lose you too. I know you are angry, but we can't do anything about it.", he made a disgust face when he heard Lucian's fang tear the skin from the man's neck and the sucking and slurping sounds as he feed from it.


	26. Chapter 26

**Yo, how's ya dear readers? ****Sorry for the lack of updates, but not feeling too well right now so I kinda delayed the uploading… Sorry again. **

**Yang Yang: S'k, I'm glad that you are liking it so far. n.n**

**Lady: .....Hohohohohohohoh XD Then you will like this chap.**

**Thanks for their reviews!!!**

**WARNING: Smex in this chapter, gore stuff. LucianAaron.**

26

Alexander had been feeling uneasy after Lucian got into his mating cycle. The aphrodisiac was now all over the Guild and neither he nor Nidhoggr were safe from it. The vampire boy tried to stay away from the humans but Oyan constantly needed him as they were discussing what they were going to do that night. Alexander felt shame for him as the young boy couldn't suppress his own needs and often locked himself up in his own room to have some time alone. Oyan often talked with Alexander about how the spy acted funny after Lucian got into heat and the Terrennial bit his lip several times before answering it was because some humans were more sensitive than others towards vampire's aphrodisiacs. Besides, being so young and so hormonal, this worked twice the normal on a regular adult human. The leader actually believed the explanation and gave Nidhoggr more free time after the chat, now relaying on Alexander much to his despise. As the day passed, Alexander managed to convince Oyan to start moving after Full Moon, especially after what happened to Merclar. The dead of the man made the leader change his point of view about vampires.

Recher fell into a depression mood after that incident. From out of the sudden, he stopped being an ass and didn't talk like he used to. He spent time alone, not wanting anyone to come besides him while he was resting. He even stopped visiting Oyan in his office inside the Guild, but the man knew it was because of the way he reacted towards Merclar's death. Recher was angry because Oyan didn't let him avenge Merclar but what the auburn man said was true. He was angry and sad about his death, but couldn't risk losing him too. If it was in a different situation, then he might had let Recher kill Lucian, but since the vampire had information they needed he couldn't lose him either. Having to kidnap the gunslingers or even Dumas would be more difficult since they didn't know their weakness.

"Do you think Recher will still fight?", asked Oyan to Alexander.

With Merclar dead and Recher being all depressed, the leader only counted with the new member that he hired. He knew the samurai had still some doubts about being hired (perhaps he didn't renounce to his friends at all), but he couldn't talk with anyone else. Nidhoggr always put space between them and Oyan agreed with it, since he was a mere spy but with the many years he had been inside, he grew to like him.

"Possibly.", answered Alexander.

Oyan tried to not grow attached to anyone inside the North Guild just like the earlier leader did, but he wasn't like him at all. In the end, he ended up caring for everyone even if he didn't show it. When someone died, he would shed some tears for his lost alone in his room or in his office, far away from the other's eyes. After washing his face and calming down, he would pray for his soul and let the other bury him, if the dead one still had a body of course.

"But he will only do to revenge Merclar.", added after a few seconds. Oyan turned around and looked at him. "I guess you would do the same.", the auburn man looked away. "You might want to be seen as the though, cold leader of the Guild, but I know you are just like Recher.", Alexander sat on the chair in front of the desk. "You want to kill Lucian for what he did to Merclar."

"How could you guess? You just met me."

"I'm a true warrior, like you said, and I can see through your sorrowful eyes.", said before leaving the office.

Alexander's words danced inside Oyan's head, wondering what kind of man was he. It was true that he would fight also for Merclar once Lucian escapes from the Guild. He wasn't naïve to think the vampire and his mate will stay more than a week inside. Just as Aaron recovers his health, he will break the spell and Lucian will probably look up for him. Perhaps both of them could make an arrangement so the vampire doesn't kill anymore of his men in exchange of their freedom. Lucian was sadist and cruel, but still had some pride and honor inside.

Now he knew more about Lucian. He was the man that fought side by side with Trinity against Ratatosk and Dumas, a man that died and came back. Oyan still didn't know how Nero split from Perrault, the Lunar Terrennial, and not only him; everyone was asking the same thing as not even the same Terrennial could answer it. But he just did and bonded with Lucian, imbuing him with the Dark Powers, with the curse. How he could manage to bear it if he didn't have Dark Matter inside his body already or at last was a half-vampire? Oyan couldn't decipher that part of the man, but there was a high chance that he was injected Dark Matter when he was still a prisoner from Ratatosk, thus, making him compatible with Nero's energy. And being the prideful man the vampire was, maybe he didn't want to his enemy to know something as embarrassing as that.

Oyan took a glance to the clock on the desk. It was near midnight, and he knew that Lucian was still tied up in the dungeon and that Aaron was still inside his jail. After the interrogation the others left, Oyan staying as he watched how Lucian sucked all the blood from Merclar's body. When the vampire finished, the dry body fell on the stoned floor and Oyan watched how small trials of blood slipped from Lucian's mouth, his fangs and teeth dirty with fresh, red blood. The man licked his lips clean as well as his teeth, leaning back on the wall, giving a sigh. He was full, he was content.

"That was a nice, big meal.", said the vampire when the auburn man lifted the corpse of Merclar. "I'm looking forwards to eat something like that again."

Unable to help himself, Oyan spun around quickly and gave Lucian a hard kick on the face but, as he saw earlier, the man wasn't affecter by it as he gave him a wide smile.

"Remember today is Full Moon.", he laughed under his breath. "If you don't want all of your men dead, I suggest you to bring Aaron here at midnight."

Oyan glared at him and left. The entire members from the Guild cremated Merclar's body under the dark sky, in the wood surrounding the building. The leader returned, letting Recher pick up the ashes and put them into an urn they found in one of the basements. Oyan walked to the office and cried Merclar's dead for a few hours before Alexander showed up.

It was ten past midnight. The auburn man was still inside the office, sitting on the chair, elbows on his legs, fingers tangled with each other. Lucian would keep his promise but he didn't see how he was going to break free from those ropes, unless now that Aaron is weak, it will be much easier for him to do it. Oyan hummed softly. He didn't hear anyone scream or nothing exploding. Could it be that Lucian was only threatening him? The man sighed, closing his eyes. The vampire wouldn't say such things unless he could or would do them. Or maybe he had another way to kill everyone in the Guild that didn't necessary imply him breaking free from the ropes and going into a rampage. Oyan only wondered.

Lucian and the rest of the vampires, including Dumas, obliged him to think and act different the usual. He was so used in fighting the Northland vampire style that he had forgotten that the others from the rest of the lands might be lightly different. He had to admit it was a careless action going straight to them and try to kill as much as they could, and even an innocent and naïve emotion. After the first fight he noticed and, now with Merclar's death, he was sure that things weren't going to be the same. He was not going to go straight forwards, but also will use other things under his sleeve besides Alexander and the machine. There were some furred friends that will love to help him in this. But, as vampires, Full Moon nights were dangerous for a human to step closer to them. They lived far in the West, in the mountains, isolated from humans and other creatures. They were very aggressive in certain times of the year, but most of the time they were kind creatures.

Oyan needed to think how to approach them first. Yes, he was familiar with them and they were familiar with him, but couldn't ask their help without a good purpose. Being them hated as vampires were, they needed to be careful with each 'favor' people asked to them. He should go after Full Moon or perhaps next week seeing that the vampire and the boy were going to stay in the Guild for a while and Ernest will not make his move until the brat was out of it.

"Sir?", a rookie came into the office. Oyan turned around and looked at him. Why he hadn't heard the knock on the door? "The prisoner wants to talk with you."

"Which one?"

"The boy."

The auburn man hummed, interested. Why would Aaron want to talk with him? Shouldn't that be Lucian? Oyan nodded and told him to leave, while he stayed a bit more in his office. The vampire was the one desperate in getting in bed with his mate and Aaron didn't seem that type of person to demand things from others, unless after being marked, his personality slowly changed, especially after seeing him work with Lucian a few hours ago.

Standing up, Oyan left the office and went to the jails. Nidhoggr was nowhere to be seen as Alexander, and that made the man worry a bit. He gave the spy some time to himself but, where was the samurai? Could he been with the spy or anyother place? He hoped to. It would be kind of weird to think that the grown up man wanted to go with a young boy like him. But then again, what he should say about Lucian? The man was visible, vampire or not, older than Aaron and yet he was going out with him, and Ernest and the others didn't say a thing. How old was the boy? Sixteen, seventeen? And Lucian? He should be around his twenties. Oyan gave him around twenty-two or twenty-three years old, thought after the last war; he should now be around his thirties, just like him. Wouldn't that be kind of illegal since the boy didn't reach the eighteen? Unless in the East Cities was different from the North ones. After hearing to what Aaron had to say, Oyan made a mental note to ask him or Lucian later about that.

When the man opened the door to the jail, Oyan saw Aaron curled on the bed, under the sheets, flushed face and sweating. As he walked closer, he also noticed the lightly trembling the boy had, too. The IV plasma was placed to a side of the bed seeing that Aaron didn't need it anymore and a tray was on the small stool, with the dirty and empty dish of food that once had it been there. The boy, when he heard the man's footsteps, he turned around, panting hard. Oyan looked at him, wondering what was with him. He took the tray and left it on the floor as he sat on the stool next to the bed.

"Are you sick or something?", was the first thing the auburn man asked after seeing the boy's state of health.

"You could say.", answered Aaron not bothering in sitting on the bed as he stood under the sheets.

"What you want to talk about with me?"

"I need you to bring Lucian here.", Aaron went directly to the spot, not wasting anymore time.

"I beg your pardon?", Oyan opened his eyes widely. "I can't risk my men's life like that! What if he escapes?"

"He will not.", the boy gasped. "Ah... The ropes are still there, aren't they?", Oyan nodded. "Then he will not be able to escape at all."

"Why you need him here?"

"Isn't that obvious enough, damn it!!", said groaning. "I'm horny, I need him here, I need him to fuck me!", he gasped again as a shiver went down his spine. "I thought I could endure it until tomorrow, maybe, but I can't..."

"Is it because you are now a vampire mate?"

"I don't know, I don't care!", angrily replied the boy. "Please, bring Lucian here! I can't stand it anymore, I need him..."

"What guarantees I have of you not breaking the spell on him?", Oyan couldn't trust the vampire, but Aaron was still human after all, so he might take his word. "If this is some kind of trap..."

"No, no...", unable to help it, the boy moaned. Oyan started to feel rather uncomfortable there. Perhaps it was wise to let them be together for the mating, in the end. "You can check on Lucian, he will probably be like me and will not try anything to escape."

Oyan stood up and left without saying a word, much to Aaron's despite. The door closed behind the auburn man as he walked towards the stairs, going to the ones that lead to the dungeons. The Guild was abnormally quiet but that was something that he had foreseen. They weren't under attack, they weren't going into fight that night, his men were bored, sleeping in their rooms, talking, eating something or anyother thing. As he grew closer, he could hear nothing and that made him feel uneasy. Normally, Lucian would talk with the gatekeepers of his dungeon even if he was chained up or after being abused physically. And for the man outside listen, he had to talk in a rather loud voice, but Oyan couldn't hear him. Was he sleeping? Couldn't be. It was almost half past twelve in the night, and he was a vampire. He shouldn't be sleeping.

The man at the door told him that after he and the others came, Lucian had been feeling strange. He slowly grew silent and, since the dungeon is quiet dark, they couldn't see what was happening inside, and they were scared of getting inside in truth. Oyan understood and let them open the door. The man walked inside and lighted on the little bulb of light hanging from the ceiling illuminating the vampire. Lucian was still tied up with the red, black and purple ropes. He was leaning on the wall from his left side, barely noticing that Oyan had entered the room. He only did when the auburn man told him he was there.

"...What do you want now...?", said Lucian in a breathless sentence.

The man noticed the same symptoms, to put them a name, as Aaron. The vampire had his face flushed; he was sweating, panting hard and trembling. He didn't seem as he wanted to fight or mock Oyan like he always did and loved to.

"Get up.", ordered the man as he approached him. "You are out of here."

Lucian laughed.

"What? Do you think I'm going to let you set me free without bringing Aaron with me?", he growled when Oyan lifted him by his arms and let him support on his own body.

"I never said I would set you free.", the man helped Lucian out of the dungeon and told the others to close the door and escort him. "You are going to see someone.", Lucian looked at Oyan in a weird way and the man smiled. "You will see that brat and you will stay with him tonight and tomorrow so you can do your stuff, what ever it is.", he felt the vampire shiver.

"Thank you."

It was a quick trip to the jail. The gunslingers opened the door to Oyan and the vampire as they entered. Aaron opened his eyes and smiled when he saw Lucian being carried by the auburn man, feeling his body shiver once more. Like recuperating strength, the vampire walked away from Oyan as he dropped his body on the bed, next to the boy, sharing a soft and short kiss of welcome. The auburn man exited the jail quickly, not really wanting to see anything of that. He told his men to leave too, but stay in the entrance of the hallway if something happened.

Lucian slowly put away the sheets covering Aaron's body, feeling the heat irradiating from it, his sticky skin thanks to the sweat. His lips were softly caressing his own, tracing his sides with his hands and kicking the sheets to the bottom of the bed, tangling his legs afterwards with Lucian's ones. Aaron slowly lifted his right one, pressing it hard on Lucian's one, then circling his waist with both of them as their kiss turned fierce, the hands roaming over the bodies, quickly finding the clothing and removing it. Aaron's shirt was the first thing that flew across the jail, next to Lucian's upper armor. Since the ropes rip the vest that was usually underneath it the boy didn't have to waste time in removing it since there was none. He moved to the vampire's pants, but was stopped by his hands as he felt Lucian's teeth on his neck and cleavage.

Aaron moaned softly, digging his fingers in the vampire's hair, not letting him move as he grabbed him by his waist with both legs. Lucian looked at his mate and smiled, biting down and leaving a red mark in the middle of his chest as he slowly traveled lower with his wet tongue, reaching the boy's naval before going up once more. Aaron gave surprise yelp when Lucian lifted him up without taking his legs from his waist, lifting his head and finding the boy's lips in another kiss, as he felt Aaron's nails dig into his back, scratching it up and down.

"What?", whispered the vampire, tracing butterfly kisses all over Aaron's neck. "Didn't have enough after what you did?"

"Well, who's fault is that I'm suddenly very interesting in such things?", replied the boy in the same tone. He grabbed Lucian's head and took his lips. "Thought I enjoy it, it makes me wonder if my usual persona will change with the time…"

The vampire took the boy's left hand and kissed the tip of his fingers.

"It all depends in your mental strength.", answered. "The same goes for those who had been bitten by vampires.", he felt the ropes around his body slip giving Aaron more skin to touch. "If you treasure them, then you will fight the curse when it reaches your brain and consumes it…"

"Do you mean there is a way to prevent losing your memories?", asked Aaron looking into Lucian's eyes.

"Why do you think I'm still here?"

"What about Ernest and the others? Ezra told me that you forgot about them."

"Well, I admit I have been scared at first, but then I realized I shouldn't fear anything.", he hugged the boy tighter. "Fighting it back will only increase the pain I had inside, and it would also make my lovely mate and friends suffer, and I didn't want that."

"That's the reason why you suddenly changed your mind?"

"You saw it that way?", Aaron nodded and Lucian smiled. "Sorry for that."

The boy shook his head as he kissed him again. They were going to bother about subjects like that another time, perhaps after the war's over, though there were still some issues that were bugging Aaron since the 'session' they had with the gunslingers that same day.

Lucian distracted him from his thoughts with his tongue roaming on his neck, tripping upwards and finding his left ear. The soft nibbles and licks made the boy sigh as he tried desperately to grab the vampire's pants somehow, but Lucian was faster and the one that ended up losing them was Aaron, as he stayed on his lap only wearing his socks. The boy pouted, whispering it was unfair that he was the one naked right now, but the vampire laughed softly, nibbling his nose in a tender way before kicking out his armor legs to the floor. Aaron took advantage of than and removed the vest covering the lower regions of his mate as the other removed the socks from his feet, that tangled behind Lucian's back as his legs were firmly pressed around his waist like the first time.

The room was slowly getting warmer. Being a room with no windows except for the little one on the door, there was no airflow to renew the one inside and calm them a bit. Their sticky bodies were getting warmer too; their kisses were growing more passionate, their gasps and moans slowly filling the silence in it. Aaron shivered when his erection rubbed against Lucian's, the vampire biting down on the boy's lip when he felt it too. His long nails were tracing the back muscles of Aaron, if not already pressing hard enough to make the skin bleed. But the feeling was so great the boy didn't notice.

His heart started to race up as Lucian touched him, the vampire hearing it by being so close to the boy, his vampiric instincts coming out as he felt his body grow more and more anxious. His fingers quickly found the boy's nipples, trapping them between his tips, pulling them softly. Aaron moaned and shivered, thrusting against Lucian's pelvis, opening his mouth as the vampire's lips barely touched his, breathing into the other's air. Aaron couldn't take it no more; his condition as human mate and the dark energy in his body were affecting him much more that it was doing on Lucian, who was currently taking it smooth and slow. The boy whispered some curses as he told the vampire to rush it up but, being Lucian, he took advantage of that by pinning Aaron's wrist together down on the bed as he used his other one and his mouth to tease the boy's warm and stick body. He sucked his chest and stomach, leaving red marks on it. He sucked on his nipples, he played with them with his tongue, licking the tip of them and biting down on them, hearing his lover's voice echo in his ears as he arched from the bed, trying to take as much as he could from that mouth.

Lucian made his mate sit on the bed, still grabbing his wrists, as he lowered himself to fully take his erected member inside his mouth. Aaron cried out loud, trembling and struggling to get himself free, but the vampire's grip was strong. He felt Lucian's tongue lick it like he once did with the ice pop, enjoying it and biting the tip from time to time, sucking hard and playing. Aaron gasped for breath as he watched how Lucian's head moved up and down between his legs. He wanted to sink his hands in that purple mess of hair, he wanted to pull those purple hairs. But he couldn't. The boy struggled one last time but gave up. His body shuddered as Lucian bit the tip of his member.

"Is this payback?", he asked, feeling his orgasm close. Lucian laughed with his staff in his mouth and the vibrations made Aaron moan.

"You could say.", answered the vampire before putting the member inside his mouth again, giving it a few more treatment before the boy cummed.

Lucian stood up, not swallowing the semen that later used it as lubricant. He obliged Aaron to lay down on the bed again as he put some of the semen in his fingers, that then went straight in his ass. The boy tensed a bit before relaxing, biting his bottom lip as Lucian touched his prostrate. He still struggled, but there was nothing he could do, or was it? Aaron smiled as his eyes shone in a soft dark light. Lucian noticed it and then the ropes on his body made him flop down on the bed. They curled around his wrists and they tied him up to the bed, giving Aaron free will on the vampire's body once again.

The boy, panting hard after what his lover did, laughed softly as he sat on Lucian's lap, eyeing the well build torso of him, roaming his hands over it and pinching his nipples. He smiled when the vampire gasped and arched from the bed, silently asking for more. Aaron leaned over him and captured his lips in a demanding one, slipping his tongue in Lucian's mouth, curling it around the vampire's, sucking on it greedily. Their mouths only separated when the boy needed to gasp for breath, but they would soon return to that before Aaron decided to finish kissing him, moving onto his neck. He bit down hard, leaving a red mark on the right side of the neck to replace the other one that was now barely seen. Like this, he went down much like Lucian did with him, but he scratched his pale skin, leaving red lashes across his torso. He played with his nipples, he bit them, he pinched them, he also drained some blood drops from Lucian's skin and was about to lick them when the vampire shouted he shouldn't. Aaron obeys to that, wondering why he wouldn't, and sat again on his lap.

The vampire moaned when his mate lowered himself on his erected member, watching him doing it slowly, placing his hands over his knees for some support, as he pushed himself up again with his legs over the mattress, repeating this action over and over again, slowly speeding up as his own fluids coated Lucian's member. Said vampire was moaning loudly, watching how his mate rode him, having a nice view of his entire body. He could see the little drops of sweat running down on his heated skin, his hairs sticking around his neck due to this sweat, his mouth opening into silent moans, closing when he grunted, his eyes closing tightly, his eyebrows frowning, concentrated into the pleasure striking his body. Lucian moved his hips upwards, following his mate's moves, not being able to hold it back anymore. Aaron cried loudly when the vampire touched his prostrate, giving him gosebumps on his back. The boy sank his nails on Lucian's knees, leaving small crescent moon shaped red marks on the skin, gripping his teeth as he felt his orgasm close.

Lucian moaned again, Aaron arched his back, lifting his head and shivering. His legs were already aching from all the jumping, and he couldn't feel his fingers at how hard he was sinking them into Lucian's legs. With a final thrust, Aaron came hard on his torso, crying his mate's name as the vampire thrusted up, sighing and cumming inside him, giving another moan when Aaron contracted himself around him. The boy separated from Lucian as he laid down on him, gasping for breath as he smiled and poked his nose playfully.

"Looks like I have found an interesting way to use this power you gave me, besides using it as a weapon.", he mumbled. He kissed Lucian and laughed when the vampire tried to move.

"You don't know how much I regret giving it to you now…", came his reply. He grinned and he caught Aaron's index finger into his mouth and sucked it. "I'm eager to see what are you going to do now.", he gasped for breath after that sentence, his heart beating like mad inside his rib cage.

Aaron smiled, crawling backwards and lifting Lucian's leg on his shoulders. He had to admit that this time it was kinda hard to sustain his weigh seeing that he hadn't done this the first time they mated. Last time, Lucian either rode him or he put himself in easy positions for him to being able to take him. Aaron never knew he was this heavy and found it hard, at first, to find a way to balance his body when having Lucian's leg on his shoulders.

"Do you want me to turn over?", asked the vampire seeing his mate had some troubles, but Aaron shook his head. "Alriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight….", he moaned out when Aaron thrusted without warning. His back arched and his head turned to the left before opening his eyes and locking his gaze on his mate.

The boy started to thrust in and out, grabbing the vampire's leg with his hands, trying to keep kneeled on the mattress, but it was hard. Lucian noticed it and slipped his legs down, grabbing Aaron's waist and pushing the boy deeper inside him. Lucian moaned loudly at this, Aaron gasping for breath as he suddenly stopped for a brief moment before continuing with his actions. Like this it was easier for the boy to thrust down, especially because this let, at last, one free hand to use as he pleased. With it, he leaned on Lucian and pinched his left nipple before slipping it down to his erected member, pumping hard on it, teasing the tip, pinching it like he did with the now hard nubs on the vampire's chest, which moaned and grunted at the feeling of the hand of his mate on his aching need.

Lucian lifted up his gaze; his watery eyes and blushed face locked on Aaron's working torso and on his concentrated face while he was taking him. Lucian moaned again at the sight, tightening his legs around Aaron, arching his back, opening his mouth in a silent plea. He struggled with the ropes, watching them as they would break in any moment, but he knew they weren't going to do it. Even when Aaron was still weak after the 'torture' session they had early that day, that spell required the boy to faint to actually disappear, or him to whisper the right words to make it vanish in the air. Lucian didn't want Aaron to release him yet, seeing that Oyan might want to use him as Full Moon was still out due to his aggressive side. If those ropes ever disappear, Lucian will have no control over his feelings and actions, and might end up doing something he would regret later.

"Ah!", he shouted, shuddering and gasping. Aaron answered the call with his own moan before he cummed inside Lucian, who arched from the bed and shivered, cumming on his chest, giving a content sigh when both of them finished. Lucian opened his teary eyes and saw that Aaron was rather tired. He knew the boy could least at last one hour without aphrodisiac, but he looked drained. "Are you alright?", he felt the ropes slip to their original place and the vampire stood up, hugging the small boy on his chest. "What's up?"

"...I'm so tired.", answered Aaron, gasping loudly. His lungs were aching and claiming air. He felt Lucian kiss his forehead. "I'm sorry..."

"It's not your fault.", reassured Lucian, smiling. "After what Oyan made you do today you should feel very exhausted."

"But I should be...", he took a deep sigh, still panting. "Attending you tonight, for the mating cycle...", he groaned when the vampire flopped down on bed with him on top of Lucian.

"I will not oblige you to do something if you are not in the right conditions to do it.", said the man, kissing him again. "If we keep it up, then there is a chance you will faint of exhaustion and if you do, this spell will break, and since I'm not in control of my... powers during Full Moon, who knows what I will end up doing if that happens?", Aaron managed to smile, snuggling on Lucian's chest. "We will continue tomorrow. Rest now, my child, you need it."

Aaron complained but couldn't do anything about it as his eyes slowly closed after Lucian pinned him down on the bed. The boy felt his mate clean him with a piece of cloth from the floor before doing the same with him. He curled next to Aaron and covered themselves with the sheets and blankets. Aaron yawned, moving closer to his vampire, closing his eyes definitely and drifting to land of dreams.

Just a few minutes after three in the morning, Oyan, Recher and two other veteran gunslingers were leaving the Guild. It was pretty dark outside even when it was Full Moon. Oyan just made up his decision, even if it was kinda risky going into their lair that night, but he couldn't waste more time. He needed to move fast and kill as much vampires as he could in the following days until reinforcements came, and when it does, he could finally put and end to all this and then clean the East lands, completely, from any Undead presence.

The four of them took a long walk of nearly an hour before reaching their destiny, which was beyond the mountains, almost near to the coast tribes. Oyan knew the path very well, as Recher did too, and could easily climb and walk down the mountains and the irregular terrain, unlike the other two, who had a lightly harder time. Small caves came into view soon, as black holes on the mountain's slopes and also a few houses next to them. It seemed empty, but Oyan knew it wasn't. As they walked closer, several wolves started to appear from the shadows of the forest, growling with their eyes fixed on them and their fur spiked up, their tails stood upright in an aggressive sight. The auburn man ignored them as he kept walking and stopping when a rush of wind passed right besides him.

When he turned around, he saw a man around thirty five to forty year old, messy dark brown hair and wild features on his face. He was visible taller than any of the man in there and was currently sniffing the two veterans that were preparing their guns when they felt something coming, just not fast enough to shot if they needed to. The man was clothed with some casual clothes, torn over the knees, elbows and feet. He wasn't wearing anything in them, as he stood barefoot over the cold stoned floor. He opened his eyes and they were bright green under the moonlight. He was very robust and probably quiet heavy too.

"You don't trust us anymore?", asked the man turning to Oyan, who still had his gun in the same place he put it when he left the Guild.

"I hate travelling alone.", came his reply. "And Merclar died yesterday.", the man's eyes widened as he looked at Recher, who nodded. The two other veterans didn't know what was happening between the three of them.

"It was a vampire, right?", the man growled when Oyan nodded.

"Yes it was, but it took place inside the Guild."

"How? The jails in the north are pretty much anti-vampire!"

Oyan proceed to tell him everything that was happening now, including the very especial 'guests' they had in the local East Guild, and Cyryl, the man, told them to follow him as he eased the wolves' anger. The veterans soon understood where they were; they were in the werewolves' lair and lands. Cyryl was the current leader of the pack living there and knew Oyan from when he was still in the North serving as a mere gunslinger before obtaining the title of leader in it. When they entered his home, it was empty but lighted on with oil lanterns and with several things normal gunslinger would use to protect themselves from vampires. Now with yellow and normal light, they could see that Cyryl's hair wasn't that messy at first when they looked at him; it was actually combed but seemed that he went fighting that night when they spotted some bruises on his arms and legs.

They all sat and Cyryl asked Oyan what he wanted from him, and Oyan explained;

"I have some reinforcements coming from the North, but they will take a while to get here.", the man thanked the glass of water that the werewolf offered to him and the others. "And in the last two encounters with the vampires, I lost almost all my men."

"Well, you could just wait for them. I don't really see a reason for why would you want my help.", came his reply as he took a sip from his drink.

"The Duke is with them.", Cyryl choked on his drink and, after coughing up a bit, he looked at Oyan with his eyes wide open.

"You are lying... The Duke died four years ago!"

"He did, but resurrected with his Terrennial's help and with the leftovers from the Immortals.", he said. "Now, he is leading the opposite group to us and I must say, they're kicking our asses pretty good."

"But, he isn't the type of man to do that... I mean, from what you told me..."

"It has a little deeper meaning.", and he explained the whole thing behind the Duke's real reasons; from Lucian to his new partner, Nish.

Cyryl nodded, now more calm about it, and took another sip from his water. He accepted helping Oyan in this, seeing that they had a common enemy, but werewolves fought against them in a lightly different way than humans does; using the never ending rivalry between them and vampires. Being two of the most powerful night creatures, they constantly fight for supremacy, trying to extinguish the other race. Even like that, vampires are very afraid of werewolves and avoid fighting with them in the first place. Werewolves too, but they would not run away from a fight, while vampires will, seeing they come from humans and still have some of their principal and egoist feelings. The werewolves, being half beast, don't share much of those feelings and that is what makes them, sometimes, more powerful than vampires.

"Can you come with some of your men tomorrow?", said Oyan.

"Yeah, I will able to."

Oyan nodded.

They left and took another hour to return to the Guild. It was now almost morning when they arrived and Alexander was the one that told him how it went with Lucian, saying that being the kid so exhausted from the effort he did in controlling the vampire, they didn't do much. As if it was some kind of miracle, the auburn man smiled and left to his office not before calling, in a really loud voice, for Nidhoggr who was currently sleeping on the couch in the other room. The vampire boy groaned as he slowly rose from it, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and thinking what could the man want at those early hours of the morning.

Nidhoggr looked at Alexander who shrugged and walked off to his room, after being up all night taking care that nothing went wrong with the vampire and his mate. The vampire boy yawned and covered his face with the mask before getting inside Oyan's office. The man was sitting on the chair, eyeing some kind of map, and visible happy. Nidhoggr shivered; each time that man was happy meant no good to him. Thought he didn't know how bad it was going to be this time.

"My especial friends will come tomorrow afternoon, if not the day after tomorrow.", said as the boy sat in front of him. "I have an idea after what Alexis told me about Lucian and the brat."

"I'm all ears.", came Nidhoggr's reply. His eyes slowly closed but opened them violently again. He cursed Oyan mentally. He needed that rest after Lucian's aphrodisiac did its thing on his body.

"We can separate them now and leave them like that until the bloodlust night of vampires.", Oyan took a lens and put it over the map. He slipped his finger over a path and nodded. "Seeing that Lucian will become utterly pissed and angry, we can use those feelings in our fight, we can treat him with his mate to make him do whatever I want.", Nidhoggr thought how many times he told Oyan to not do that. "He can not refuse seeing that the boy is pretty much in a bad shape now and I will personally take care that he does not recuperates his health in this week.", Nidhoggr liked that idea now. He smiled.

"Who are your friends?", asked with curiosity as he saw Oyan's finger move on the map.

But the auburn man put his index finger over his lips.

"It's a secret. I can't let Lucian know about it until the time comes."

Oyan dismissed the vampire boy and Nidhoggr flopped on the couch once more, covering with the blanket, turning around and drifting to sleep.

That same afternoon, when Aaron and Lucian were sleeping in the boy's jail, Oyan told Alexander to return the vampire to his original dungeon. The Terrennial sighed, knowing that Lucian wasn't going to let that happen without a fight first. He choose carefully the people that were going to help him in that duty and even asked Recher if he wanted, but declined remembering his friend's destiny at the vampire's hands. Nidhoggr suggested in sedating Lucian but Alexander reminded him that the drugs he used didn't work.

"Because they weren't sedatives, idiot.", mumbled angrily the vampire boy. Alexander frowned but didn't say anything when he gave him a syringe filled with a white liquid.

The couple had been sleeping since they got to bed, but the Terrennial knew the vampire was the one with his instincts awake. When he entered the jail, Lucian didn't move, probably because he was used at Alexander's scent and didn't sense any danger in it. The others were staying outside the jail, having handcuffs, ropes and chains and other stuff to control the vampire down and get him to the dungeon.

Surprisingly, both of them were clothed and the mattress sheet was all folded on the floor. Alexander didn't have to look in it to know why they had put them there. With caution, he approached the bed and watched both of them sleep, thinking where he could stitch the needle. Lucian was all covered and was lying over Aaron, protecting him. Alexander frowned, biting his bottom lip. He sighed and mumbled something that was close to "To hell with everything" as he stuck the needle on Lucian's neck and quickly letting the liquid get inside his body as the man rose from the bed, angered from the assault. He tackled Alexander to the floor, growled loudly as his boney tail emerged from behind. The Terrennial hissed back, grabbing Lucian's arms and pushing him effortlessly, pinning him against the wall and stepping over his tail to prevent the vampire using it against him.

Lucian struggled, trying to bite Alexander as the man's dark power took control over his actions as the other gunslinger came and tied him up with the ropes and handcuffed their wrists behind his back.

"..What are you people doing?", came the tired voice of Aaron from the darkness, between all the panting from Lucian and the struggling they made over him.

"Go back to sleep.", told Alexander, petting the boy's head. His hand shone softly as Aaron's eyes slowly close. "We will take care of him.", reassured with a smile. "Get him out of here.", he told to the other gunslingers when the boy finally went to sleep again with his spell.

All of them had a hard time seeing that Lucian didn't want to return to his dungeon. He glued his feet hard on the floor, but the sedative was slowly taking terrain over him. He soon felt his legs shake and weaken under its influence and in mere of minutes; he was easily dragged across the hallways towards him once belonged when he came to the Guild. Lucian groaned and growled to the gunslingers as the ropes from the spell crawled up and hanged themselves over the hooks on the wall.

Alexander closed the door and left with the others, feeling terrible after what he did. He didn't know if he was going to be able to keep this for any longer.

Since Aaron seemed more drained from energy the usual, Oyan asked Nidhoggr to check on him to see if he needed another blood transfusion. Last time Ernest came, they decided to fill two blood bags instead of one. The man left from the Guild feeling like a drunken man, obviously being escorted by Oyan himself until a meeting point in where Bea and Kay left to the Hideout, so no one killed Ernest, or he didn't kill himself by tripping or anything like that. The vampire boy checked on him while Alexander stood over the bottom of the bed, feeling the anger glare the boy gave him.

Obviously, Aaron wasn't happy that the Terrennial had taken his mate away even if he had explained to him why. He refused to say a word even when Alexander asked how he was today; he only answered Nidhoggr's questions about his state of health, something that amused the vampire. He stuck again the IV on Aaron's arm and hoped that the boy would regain some health and energy before Oyan decided it was time to drain him again. That brought the question of how the auburn man was going to do it.

"Hope he doesn't think in filling those empty blood bags I still have...", mumbled Nidhoggr.

"What?", said Aaron but the vampire boy shook his head.

"Nothing, just thinking to myself about some stuff I might give you.", said instead. He still needed to see if he still had the drugs he used before when waiting for the blood transfusion.

Nidhoggr was surely worried about Oyan's way of 'not letting the boy be in shape' so he couldn't break the spell. That man could go, sometimes, to an extreme and leave Aaron fainted from work, which would be terrible too as the curse would leave Lucian's body because the owner's mind wasn't connected with it. And the other; who were his 'friends' that were going to come today and help him? He couldn't let another stone stuck into his way or things will start to be rather difficult not only for him, but also Alexander, Lucian and Aaron, not to mention the others waiting in the Hideout.

The man had left in the middle of the night to who knows where and returned at sunrise and told him all these things. Nidhoggr didn't know what to think about Oyan anymore even after knowing him from so many years. He had changed so much in a few days.

Nidhoggr saw that Alexander's hair, for an odd reason, started to spike up. It remembered him how cat's tail usually goes when they start a fight or they spike it up trying to look bigger an meaner, but soon his own did it too as his sensitive nose picked up a very familiar scent, a one that he thought of never feel among the gunslingers. It made his body shiver in fear, his eyes widen. His ears shot up, in an instinctive reflex to catch their noise. Aaron noticed how he and Alexander acted funny, yet he remained silent. It was rare to see the wind Terrennial so prepared to fight when he saw no one but them in the room, unless someone was approaching the jail that he couldn't notice. He could hear Nidhoggr soft growl, trembling lightly. When the door opened and the figure of a tall man came into view, the vampire boy hissed angrily and stepped backwards, hitting the wall behind him, not letting his red eyes wodner away from him. His claws were digging into the stone beneath him as he hissed again when the man stepped inside.

"Who are you?", asked Alexander with his hair swirling around. The little band was now on the floor as his hair flew like real wind. Over his hands there was his regular katana again, grabbing the hilt with the left hand and the other extreme with the right one, making the man stop just a few steps before the Terrennial, which was just a head smaller than him.

Cyryl showed the man in front of him his bare hands, but Alexander didn't change his position. The werewolf understood that the persons just behind him were very important to him, though he didn't know why a vampire was among them. He knew about Lucian, but didn't know about this one.

"A close friend from Oyan.", answered Cyryl. "He asked for my help and came, though I'm concerned about the vampire there.", he shot a glance to Nidhoggr, who growled and hissed again, trying to get away but the wall didn't let him. He was really scared now.

"He doesn't know he is a vampire.", answered Alexander. "He has his own reasons to hide his identity and to stay here among the gunslingers."

Cyryl understood and, with a nod, he let the Terrennial know that he wouldn't step on the other's plans, if they ever had one. He only came to help Oyan only, not to screw others in the middle. Nidhoggr seemed to calm down a bit as he slipped down on the wall to the floor, but still tense and nervous.

"Oh, you are here.", Oyan came into sight once Alexander and Nidhoggr were already calmed down. The katana on the Terrennial's hand had disappeared upon his presence. "What happened here?"

"Your friend almost gave us a heart attack.", explained the vampire boy. His legs were still shaking and knew he wouldn't get up in a while. "Coming so suddenly and looking so fearsome…"

Oyan took it as a joke and laughed softly.

"It's Cyryl, he is a werewolf and one of my closest friends.", Cyryl noticed how Nidhoggr mumbled something incoherent but related to him. The man couldn't blame him after knowing that his leader was hiring his second and closest enemy. "He and some of his men are going to work with us in this, hope you get along.", said as he turned around to leave. "I will introduce him and the others in a while but seeing you already know him, you can stay here taking care of the brat."

Alexander watched the robust man in front of him. Oyan closed the door behind him and left them alone.

"I know you are not so fond of vampires nor them to your race…", started the wind Terrennial. "But I will please ask you to tell your men to not…", he glanced at the still trembling Nidhoggr. "…spread this. That man had done to him things I wish not retell for his own sake."

Cyryl frowned.

"And what about you?", said to Alexander. "I can sense what you in truth are, yet I doubt the vampire knows it yet.", the man closed his eyes. "I see…"

The werewolf took a glance at Aaron and finally left.

Cyryl had taken from home around two hundred of werewolves with him. All of them were introduced an hour later they came to the Guild, and the gunslingers welcomed them warmly. The beast tried to get used to the fact of helping humans and resisting the urge of killing Lucian right away when Oyan and Cyryl explained them why he was still locked inside, but it took more for them to understand why his leader let the other vampire stay alive.

"I already told you.", said. "We came to help Oyan only, not to fuck up others. That vampire boy has his reasons to stay here and hide his identity, like the mighty Wind Terrennial has them too."

"You don't expect us to follow any order that ungrateful creature gives us?", one of them complained.

"Not if it's insulting, humiliating or puts in risks our lives.", he heard him growl. "That vampire is quiet intelligent and I doubt he will do something that plays against his game. For the moment, we will follow his orders as if he was another of Oyan's men."

Everybody had to swallow their pride and do what their leader told them if they wanted to beat the Duke once and for all.

The day progressed pretty well for the gunslingers, but for Lucian was getting harder to control his dark powers. Sure, he was now a vampire and all but there were some things he couldn't learn to do yet, and one of them was to control said powers. He had felt the smell of the werewolves when they put a single foot in the Guild and instantly knew Dumas and the other were going to be in troubles once Oyan lets them go. That made him more angered. He didn't have anything against the werewolves but if they lay a finger on Aaron… that would totally change things. Besides, being in mating cycle wasn't helping at all as his powers were more crazy the usual because of his ranging hormones in his body. Several times he asked Nidhoggr to use a drug that would calm then down, but they did nothing as if he had some sort of immunity to them.

Aaron's had been weak but was slowly regaining health thanks to the IV. Nidhoggr had to take it off upon this by Oyan's word and, almost instantly, the boy had fallen on bed drained again. The vampire boy only gave him the necessary from this IV and the drugs. That same afternoon, the Guild was reunited to discuss about what they were going to do now they had some strong allies in their side, and all of them agreed to attack as soon as possible. Seeing that they knew each of their moves, (still didn't know how), they could lure them out from their hiding spot and attack them with Lucian in his beast form and with the werewolves. Cyryl said he would need the maps of the city and walk around a bit to familiarize with the lands before attacking with his men, and Oyan agreed. They all decided, also, to start the attack that same night instead of the next one seeing that Lucian would be as pissed as if it was his bloodlust night because he wasn't with his mate.

They all get prepared. This time, the rookies must stay as the more grown and experienced ones took over. That made Máximo sigh in relief when Alexander told him and the Terrennial gave him the order to take care of Aaron while they were away, seeing he had already discussed it with Oyan previously. Máximo said he would do anything at his hand to protect the boy from his other, meaner, fellows.

Dragging Lucian out of the dungeon was something the werewolves asked to personally do, seeing they were far stronger than humans and could resist the curse from the vampires if they ever bit them. But even like that, it was hard. The werewolves noticed he was far stronger than any vampire they ever met, and far stronger than them. Lucian hissed, growled, kicked and bit his guardians seeing what they were going to do. Maybe not know, but foreseen. From where Aaron was he could easily hear his mate's screams. The boy curled under the sheets and sighed, seeing he couldn't do anything being so weak and without his solar gun. Máximo stood outside his jail and watched him, hoping this would end soon.


	27. Chapter 27

**I'm going to reply in the next chapter... but thank you so much for the reviews!! Makes me feel loved!! **

**Anyway, I officialy changed Dumas' personality. Go me. **

**Enjoy!!**

27

"Get your fucking hands off me!!", shouted Lucian as he was dragged outside the Guild, to the black barrier in where the rest were waiting. "I will crush your fucking skulls, you damned furballs!!", he received a hard elbow hit on his jaw that made his nose bleed from it.

"Watch your fucking language with us, bloodsucker!!", shouted the one on his left. "Keep in mind you are all bandaged and at our mercy!"

"Yeah, sure, dickhead!!", another hit but Lucian didn't stop. "Untie me and let's fight to see who the fuck ends up as a mere pile of bones!!"

"Augh, just shut the fuck up!!", he gave him a third hit but got amazed at how his head resisted it. "For Moon's sake…"

Lucian snickered but was shoved on the ground after that. The same werewolves untied him from the normal handcuff. One of them grabbed his wrists and the other the ankles as Nidhoggr walked to them, with the same talisman in hand but looking extremely nervous and tense. He kneeled next to Lucian, who laughed.

"Ah, must be hard for you to be in the presence of such beasts.", he struggled a little.

"You should too.", said the one holding his arms. "After all, you are a vampire."

"He indeed is.", said Nidhoggr as he stuck his shinning hand into Lucian, who hissed. "But he is a _different_ kind of vampire…"

The werewolves stood amazed how the boy took out from him the sword and impaled it on the vampire's body, starting the same process when they captured it. Once his body became wolf alike, the werewolves released him, watching him jump quickly away from them but stopping when Nidhoggr told him so. Lucian turned around, twitching his black ears, and growling, his tail high in the air. The vampire boy mumbled a second sentence and he changed again to the giant black wolf, with the ropes closing his snout and others preventing him from walking. Once he was ready, Nidhoggr moved into his machine and slipped away from the barrier with Lucian following, grudgingly, behind him. The rest did the same, as they all moved to Acuna once more.

As they predicted, the vampires were expecting them from some time now. After Alice told Ernest Oyan's move, he, Dumas and Nish started to move with a second, but more reduced, group of vampires for that night. They couldn't risk lives if this wasn't going to be the end. The humans were hiding behind the houses and the vampires in the shadows, as the werewolves told Oyan, who was waiting just in the frontline with Cyryl. At the auburn's nod, Nidhoggr told Lucian to move straight and Cyryl did the same with his other men, turning unto small wolves that run ahead of the huge black one.

Lucian walked; his mouth barely open as he looked up the bright and round Moon with his eight red eyes. His legs moved on their own, his body did Nidhoggr's will, just like with him… Ratatosk had controlled him for so long; he had felt that feeling of being a puppet for so long. He didn't know that the damned Nidhoggr was still alive, even less that he had copied Ratatosk's most powerful move. But that wouldn't be possible if he didn't still have one of his needles. Lucian growled, seeing that some wolves turned their heads to see him and then keep going. How he had missed them? How he could forget just one of them? He thought he had removed them all... Unless that, in the rush of getting outside the Vambery, they had forgotten one. Complaining over that will not help things any better they are now. He only hoped to find Dumas' scent and bring him the hell out of the shadows to tell him to retreat. The gunslingers weren't prepared to fight against werewolves with their rustic solar guns nor with the lack of a proper armor.

The opportunity stroked when the werewolves took another path to freely transform into humanoid wolves, as he kept walking forward. Then, he stopped, sniffing the air carefully. He looked at the shadows, one by one, until he saw him. With a growl and a forced move from his head, he dragged one of those shadows from its spot, just under his bigger one, dancing like a fire in a fireplace. Then, it formed the silhouette of Dumas, who looked at Lucian with fear in his eyes. He heard Ernest about the beast but didn't know it had so much power over darkness to actually oblige a vampire to come out. Just to say, no one really knew that this black wolf was actually Lucian.

"Re… treat…", said Lucian, panting. It was too much the pressure of the puppet spell and the ropes. "Dumas…"

"Lucian? What the fuck happened to you, then?!", shouted the horned vampire but was stopped by a hard breath of the wolf.

"Leave…", Lucian felt them. Dumas smelled them; his body tensed. "Were…wolves…"

"Shit!", he spun around and started to run. "Get the fuck out; Oyan got werewolves!!", just as he said that, several swift figures started to come out from everywhere.

But the vampires were so shocked, so scared, that couldn't move at the former Duke's words. Most of them got attacked by those humanoid wolves as Lucian attacked too, against his own will. He cursed and roared angrily as he stopped and turned around, opening his mouth and shooting a powerful, black flame attack to the werewolves just behind him. Their furs instantly burned as they moaned in pain and rolled on the floor trying to light it off as the others kept attacking. He saw Ernest shooting his gun, protecting the humans with him and solar guns that helped him in the retreat. The vampires followed closely behind, hiding in the shadows, barely doing anything. Lucian didn't blame them, but Ernest will probably be so pissed after this. The thought made him smile as he resisted Nidhoggr's spell.

Nish grabbed Ernest's legs and stuck him into the shadows, like the others did with the rest of the humans, to reappear into the Hideout. Bea and Kay frowned when they watched the vampires come so quickly from the fight and when they asked, they gasped upon the notice of werewolves joining with Oyan.

As Lucian predicted, Ernest got really mad at Nish and the others for retreating without his direct orders, but one of them told him that they couldn't fight against them just like that.

"Why?!", shouted Ernest, dropping his gun to the floor and kicking the closest chair. "Give me a fucking good reason to not kill you right now, Nish!"

The ice vampire whimpered, sighing.

"It's not something a human like you could understand, sadly.", answered. "Werewolves and vampires had been always in internal fight under the Moon's gaze since... well, forever. It's a battle for power to see which of the species it's the best."

"But who gave the orders to retreat?", asked, instead. He was going to finish that subject another time.

"The Duke.", said one behind Nish.

"And where is he?"

Everyone stood silent as they just realized that Dumas wasn't with them. Ernest saw how Nish's eyes widen in horror, thinking that he could still be outside, in Acuna, with the werewolves. The sole thought made his stomach shrink in fear.

"For fuck's sake!!", he shouted, spinning around. "The idiot! That fucking idiot!", he slipped his fingers into his hair. "I'm going back."

"You stay here!", said Ernest, standing in front of him. "You are one of the best here! I can not risk losing you! And I'm sorry if I sound like Oyan, but here your other partners had lost their families, friends and loves in this war!"

"It's not my problem if they hadn't done anything about that yet!", Nish showed his fangs to Ernest. "I'm going to do anything to save that idiot's ass and no fucking human like you will tell me what to do!!"

He turned around for a second time and bumped into Ezra.

"Nish, wait---", she was roughly shoved aside and he could already hear Toasty's curses for that. "Just fucking wait!!", yelled as she grabbed his wrists with force.

"If you try to stop me...", warned Nish.

"I'm going with you."

The albino vampire stood there, watching her. He then nodded and, hugging her, both of them disappeared in the shadows to return to Acuna. Both of them saw how Lucian was sniffing the hallways, like looking for someone. The other werewolves were walking around, too, excited. Nish looked at the Ice Terrennial and both of them knew that Dumas was still there, hiding, and alive. If not, then the enemy should have gone to its base long ago.

They watched how a silver furred werewolf just walked past them in the hallway but, being covered with Ezra's scent, he didn't bother with it. He kept walking and stopped when he heard a growl in the third hallway he passed. He walked in, hearing how the growling grew stronger. He saw four red eyes in the darkness and was about to attack when a crimson crescent moon shaped blade came spinning fast towards him. Unable to move freely in the small space, the attack cut his flesh deeply, making it bleed. A second and a third attack came and the enemy was kicked off from the street, whimpering in pain as he howled, calling for reinforcements. Dumas, who was there attending the vampire that was severely injured, cursed loudly as he slipped his arms on her waist and lifted her slowly. She actually wasn't in their group; she was hiding in her home, with her family because they didn't want to leave. But when the werewolves came, they pretty much slaughtered everyone except her that she could escape. But being also pregnant was hard for her to move around like that.

Dumas lifted her on his arms and looked around in a desperate way of escape. Then, he noticed around five or seven other werewolves standing just in front of them, growling and trying to get to them. The horned man hissed, showing his fangs, the woman tightening her arms around his neck. If he climbed, then the werewolves would climb faster from other side of the building and, being more fast than him seeing they didn't have to carry a pregnant woman, he would be in deep problems. If he stayed, he was risking not only his life for also the woman's and the child in her but it was the best, seeing that only one werewolf could go inside at the time. That gave them some time and space to hide before someone come to help them. But as minutes passed, the werewolves noticed they could climb up the walls in the hallway and attack at the same time. The horned man watched them as they did it and walked backwards, hissing angrily and throwing his Bloody Cutters all around the small space.

He and the woman managed to see a high column of ice rising just behind all the werewolves, some of them whimpering and moaning in pain. The ones inside the hallway turned around to help their partners, stopping right before a creature very much like their own but different at the same time. It had the same anatomical features like werewolves, especially on the legs and fur, but instead of having the common tail; it had one very lizard like, with spikes all along it and over its column. Even like this, it had fur instead of scales, but soon they noticed that he didn't have one, but two other tails too. He also had horns growing from his head and his deadly claws were pretty long. The fur was so bright and smooth at sight, from a very beautiful bluish color, with a white fluffy chest. The tails, looking closer, had also their tips white, like foxes. The creature roared and launched to the werewolves, hitting the closest and biting the one that jumped on him.

The creature stood over his back legs and shot ice attacks to any foe that dared to confront him, freezing their limbs to crush them, creating icy spears to impale them, small icy needles that pierced their skin and flesh or lowering the temperature from the ambient. Being vampires, Dumas and the woman didn't felt any change, but the werewolves were already trembling in cold. Cyryl, the coffee brown furred one, gave a snarl and everyone left behind him. Snow started to fall now, and Lucian, in the horizon, was also turning around, leaving Acuna for the moment. The creature, sniffing that no enemies were around, turned to Dumas and the other, slowly approaching. The woman hissed but the horned man told her to not worry about it.

"I can't believe you Trance with the Ice Terrennial.", there was some white and blue swirls around the creature, which glowed and shrank in size to a human and a small, floating form. "The more I know you, the more you amaze me Nish."

Nish grinned and flopped next to Dumas, petting his head. Then, he took a glance to the woman.

"Well, this is a good excuse to why you stayed in Acuna instead of running with us.", Dumas blushed in embarrassment as Nish took the woman into his arms. "I was so worried, damn it...", he sighed, closing his eyes. "We will talk once we are back, alright?"

The horned man only nodded, disappearing with Nish and Ezra.

Ernest told Bea to take care of the woman as he fought with Dumas about the order he gave without consulting, but Dumas replied it was the best seeing that neither him nor the other knew how to fight against the werewolves. Besides that, they didn't have armor to protect themselves from them. Ernest had anything to reply at that, so he only said he was glad he was still alive and left to his room. Dumas looked at Nish, who returned the gaze and blushed again.

"I'm sorry.", whispered to him. He didn't know what else to say, yet he knew that it wasn't enough with that, but the sudden hug that Nish gave him surprised him.

"I was so worried.", said the albino, hugging Dumas tighter, burying his head in his hair before moving to his neck. "You fucking idiot... You fucking idiot!", said as he started to shed some warm tears.

Dumas returned the gesture and hid on Nish's chest. He didn't know what to do, he didn't know what to say. Maybe it was those times in where you don't say or do anything. He was feeling warm and good despite all. He was happy that someone was looking over him, concerned about his life, yet he was still scared. Maybe he would have some time after the war's over. He will have some time to think over it, to talk about it. Dumas really wanted to let Nish stay at his side because he was starting to feel something for him, not that strong, but it was there.

"...I just did what I had to do.", mumbled the horned man a little after they fell in silence.

"I know.", said Nish, inhaling Dumas' scent. "I know."

After Tove and Perrault helped the injured ones, Ernest reunited with every vampire in the Hideout to know more about werewolves and why vampires were so afraid of them. One of them, whom seemed to be the oldest in the building, explained the little issue. They weren't exactly afraid of them. Vampires knew that werewolves, with their beast nature, were stronger than them and that's why they usually run away before the presence of one. They could fight them back, but that required that vampires returned to their natural form, as werewolves do it when Full Moon appears in the night sky. The problem is that only the oldest vampires are able to do it but most of them hate humans and they weren't going to help them. Ernest understood and asked how they could kill them.

"With silver.", explained the vampire.

"Silver? Why silver?", asked the man.

"Silver is the material representation of the Moon's light.", the vampire sighed. "They, as we do, fear the Moon's power because it's the one that protects us. It's very concentrated...", he coughed. "the dew inside the silver. It burns our skin and neglects the beast transformation of werewolves."

"Dew? Like water drops?", said Ernest and the man nodded. He couldn't help it and laughed. "It's... metal. It doesn't have water."

"Some objects and living forms from this planet have a small percentage of water. Some other, a lot.", he took out from his pocket a silver necklace that put on his left hand. "Even stones has water.", he squished it hard and, over his right hand, several crystalline and transparent drops of, what seemed to be water, slipped and fell on his skin, which started to turn black. He opened the hand it had the necklace, now completely black. "Sometimes you humans need to see to believe.", he put the small amount of dew into Ernest's hands. "Sometimes not even seeing it's enough for you to believe."

The man looked at the water. It was like normal water but it had... another feel. While water was, well, humid and wet, this dew was dry, which was strange.

"But...", Ernest looked at the vampire. "If it's dew then... it should be water, right?"

"It is water, just with the power of the Moon. With this dew hidden inside the silver you will be able to control the transformation of the werewolves."

"We don't have much time to create the silver bullets and I don't know how many of the vampire and humans here knows how to grab a gun.", said Ernest looking at the rest.

"There is no need to use bullets only. A small dagger, a knife, even a sword pushed deep inside their flesh is enough to stop them. But the weapons should be short, over a place hard for them to take it out.", he coughed again. "While the ones capable of wielding weapons sticks this silver into the werewolves, the others will attack shortly after and manage to kill them while they're in their human form."

"Don't they get lightly stronger under Full Moon, though?", asked Ernest.

"As strong as a vampire can be.", replied the man, smiling.

Ernest left the Hideout along with Kay to see Sheridan once more to ask him about the silver bullets. Bea and Dumas started to collect any type of weapons from the vampires currently fighting, cataloging each one as knife and daggers. There were no long swords there and that supposed a bit of worry to the former Duke. A long sword gives you the advantage of distance from the enemy when fighting it but with daggers and knives one has to come very close to the foe; it was a dangerous move and the vampires not fast enough to dodge the werewolves' attack will end up dead. But at the same time, it was also a bad move since the werewolf will be able to take it out rather quick, unless the edge is pushed so hard that it trespass the body of the foe. With the inhuman strength that vampires have it should be a piece of cake, yet the muscular mass of the werewolves was higher than the vampires and there was small chances of not being able to get the sword go through it.

When only waiting for the leaders to return was the only option, Dumas returned with Nish over their place to rest. The albino was already lying on the floor with Perrault and Nero over his lap. The Dark Terrennial had been worrying about the couple after they were captured, more concerned about Lucian than he was for Aaron actually. Several times before he had stayed awake all day unable to sleep or rest at all, trying to sense if Lucian was still alive, but he couldn't trace his energy. Nero thought if Oyan had killed the vampire but, if it that was the case, then he should have of vanish too, seeing how he and Lucian were connected. The vampire was still valuable and the north gunslinger will not kill him until he has no further use to him.

In the past few days, Toasty and he worried about the two more than Ernest and Dumas would. Those two Terrennials were too attached emotionally to those boys and the sudden lose of them left them in a very depressing mood. They had been fighting all these days, Toasty often blaming it on Lucian and Nero blaming it on Aaron and so on. They even had fought physically several times and Ernest decided to take care of Toasty while Perrault said she would take Nero with her, Dumas and Nish. The other Terrennials felt pity for them as they never grew too attached to the vampires that enslaved them, though Ursula seemed to feel otherwise. While the rest of her comrades were held captive inside the Casket Armor, the fire Terrennial had more freedom while living with Rymer and discovered and learned a few things about vampires and about Dumas' plan with him. He had confessed that he didn't like the way Immortals, especially Polidori, were doing things, even less that he and Dumas were working together. He felt the green skinned Immortal was going to be a real pain sometime soon.

"But didn't he held you against your will?", asked Ezra once, a few months later when they had returned from the outer space war and the boys were done with the Vambery. "Even though I bitched up against Stoker, he still hurt me pretty much..."

Ursula smiled.

"That vampire truly was different.", answered. "He indeed held me against my will but he actually had a reason for it, and I kinda helped him in it."

"How?", Tove said approaching her. "They enslaved us to corrupt and use our powers to destroy Humans! To break the cycle! How can you say that you were helping vampires in this?"

"Don't misunderstand her words, Tove.", said Alexander. "She didn't say she helped vampires, she was only helping Margrave Rymer in his personal fight.", the owl looked at Ursula. "And I bet it had a lot to do with the Duke."

"What?", said at the same time Ezra and Tove, looking at Alexander.

"Rymer told me 'Please, let me borrow your powers to protect him.'", answered Ursula. "How could I refuse?"

Everyone then understood what she was talking about now that the Duke was once more with them. Toasty was kinda of suspicious that the Margrave wanted only to protect him using Ursula's power, seeing that Stoker and the Poes were much like Dumas. But then again, Rymer wasn't with Ratatosk. He joined Dumas shortly after and was soon hired by him and given Ursula as his Terrennial to control. Despite what Ursula had thought in the beginning, she got a real surprise when she actually met the real person behind the vampire and was very glad she got someone like him, worrying about the other three that were under the hands of very selfish and arrogant people like the Poes and Stoker were.

Nish interrupted Nero's thoughts with a soft pat on his head. The black cat turned around and looked at him, finding Ursula standing right next to the vampire too.

"You doing no good to yourself.", said the fire Terrennial. Her human form was one of the most exotic from all the Terrennials. Her skin was red with the white and black markings she usually had in his original form. Her terrible long hair was orange, much like Rymer's one, and over her forehead was the usual antennas-crow from where flames grows. Her outfit was rather simple; a brown shirt missing a shoulder matching with light brown pants. These pants had also little red orbs hanging from them, and also thin golden bracelets; one around her waist and two on her ankles. She was the only barefoot from all the Terrennials. "You should rest and leave this to us."

"I can't.", replied the cat. "Your partner is dead and I still have to look over mine's, who is now inside a jail with the enemy. I can't imagine what Oyan had made Aaron do to Lucian to satisfy his curiosity."

Perrault hugged Nero, who groaned but didn't struggle.

"You have to trust them.", said Ursula.

"I do...", he dropped his ears.

"Then?", Nish asked.

"Do you honestly think, all of you, that we will able to defeat Oyan with the little people we have here? He got a machine, he managed to get Lucian with his powers, he got werewolves. What else he has hiding under his sleeves? What other weapon he will take out to bring us down?", Nero snuggled closer to Perrault, folding his wings over his body. "We had lost a lot of people recently; two of them are now under Oyan's hand. We don't really stand a chance."

Ursula sighed. Nero had a point there. They only managed to reunite a few people while Oyan grouped ten times the number they did. He also had the spy, his machine, Lucian's powers and now the werewolves. Looking at it, they really don't have a chance, but they could also go and recruit more people if needed. But that's hard and not a lot of humans or other creature likes vampires at all. Either way, they needed to find a way or the battle was going to end up being useless.

"Why I haven't...", came suddenly Dumas' voice.

"What?", said Ursula.

"We can also use some machines, too."

"What are you talking about?", asked Nish, looking at the expression of deep thinking Dumas had.

"The Vambery."

But only Ursula understood.

"The Casket Armors! Yes!", she shouted. "Stoker's one will be like a bull on rampage!"

"I can't believe I haven't thought of that before, I'm an idiot...", mumbled Dumas rubbing his temples.

"If you say so...", said Nish with a naughty smile, resulting in the horned man to hit him on his arm.

When Ernest and Kay returned from Sheridan's mansion, Dumas talked with them about his idea of looking the Casket Armors that Polidori once gave the vampires under his control. The idea was a very good one and they desperately needed something to counterattack Oyan's huge army now. The laboratory was something that the auburn man hadn't thought of conquering again when he came to the East lands, so it was safe for them to go and look for them. Even though Alexander wasn't there, Tove said he would pilot Edgar's machine if this plan worked. The bad thing was that the vampires had to take all the Terrennials to the Vambery and that would leave them lightly undefended towards Oyan but Ernest decided to work on it.

It was still nighttime. Kay suggested resting a few hours before going at sunrise. Dumas and Nish agreed and so did the Terrennials. Just before they could keep going they heard some noises over the main room of the Hideout and the two gunslingers grabbed their weapons and run towards it, followed by the vampires and the spirits. Bea was there too, shouting some words to what apparently seemed to be an intruder. The vampires and other humans sheltering under it were pretty much scared and tried to stay as far as possible from the intruder as the gunslinger formed a circle around it.

Perrault and Nero were the ones that managed to see how the intruder looked alike and, to their surprise, was another vampire thought very different to the ones that they all knew. He was all dressed in black and had a smooth white hair just like Nish. The big cloak covered all his body and you could only see his shoes from under it. He didn't seem to be a big deal until they all saw how powerful his shadow control was.

"What are your business here?", said Ernest with his Dragoon pointing to Dark Shadow.

"I'm looking for a man called Ernest that I presume it's you by the weapon you are wielding.", said the vampire.

"And who sent you?"

"My beloved master."

Ernest looked back to Dumas and Nish. Both vampires didn't know that kid at all. He truly was powerful but the lack of Casket Armor and the types of clothes he was wearing told them he was far older than anyone inside the room.

"You have something to tell me.", said Ernest.

"Indeed I have.", he bowed as a sign of respect and, kind of surprised, the tanned man answered to it. "It's about this battle and how my master and I want to participate."

"Well, the more the better. Why isn't he here with you?"

"He didn't want Lucian or Aaron to see him."

"They aren't here. They have been captured by Oyan."

Dark Shadow's eyes opened widely.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Oyan captured him when Vanargandr took over his body.", explained Dumas. "Aaron tried to stop him but he got captured too."

Dark Shadow bit his bottom lip. It had been all Dyango's fault. If the man hadn't decided to fight with him, then they would have been able to do what they wanted but now that Lucian was with Oyan, it would be harder this way.

"Well that... was unexpected, honestly."

"What the hell do you want?", asked in a rough tone the former Duke.

"We want to join if it's alright with everyone in this room, as I already stated. We couldn't do it faster due to personal problems of my master yet now we can."

"I can't accept until I see your master.", said Ernest. "I need to see him."

"Well then, what about meeting in two nights? Be sure to go into Oyan's fight that night or you will not be able to meet him at all.", whispered Dark Shadow before disappearing under Ernest's one.

The rest looked at Ernest if he had the answer to what just happened, which was one of the weirdest thing that was going to happen in the next few days, yet he didn't. He decided to drop the subject and call it a day as he dropped his Dragoon over his bed and flopped on it to rest.

Around eight in the morning he stood up, ate something and proceeds to wake up Dumas, Nish and the Terrennials that were all of them in their original form, piled upon each other to keep themselves warm, thought Ursula was the one that warmed them. The vampires admired the scene with Ernest for a few minutes.

"Do we really have to wake them up?", said Dumas. Nish nodded. "They all look so cute..."

Half an hour later, they were all out. Nish transformed into his full form and, letting each men take one of his arm, he took off and flew towards the Vambery, with the Terrennials floating just behind him. They arrived rather quickly and, since the soup was in the latest floors, Nish decided to land over the roof and from there, everyone walked down the stairs. Perrault and Nero were the ones guiding the group as both of them knew where to go. Toasty was just behind the cat and then, the rest.

Ezra seemed to have second thoughts of this idea. Her body was still and she jumped at every weird noise, something very odd on her since she was one of the toughest from all the Terrennials. But it was understandable. After all, she shared her time with one of the most crazed vampires Dumas could ever meet. Tove, feeling pity for his friend, stood besides her but not so long. Just as he decided it, Toasty came and placed himself in the other side of Ezra, eyeing Tove carefully. The Earth Terrennial knew the sunflower wasn't going to do anything... strange, but his mood and opinions changed so fast that he didn't know what he was capable of. Ezra seemed to not notice it as she kept following the two cats before her.

Tove really wanted to be with Alexander right now, since he really gets along with him and he was very patient with his, sometimes, childish behavior and answered all his questions and all his doubts. He knew that Ezra never really tried to get or find a mate or someone that close to be with, much like Dumas right now, but after the last war she slowly started to change and loose up. She rarely hanged up with them before but Ursula really did her part in dragging her to them. Tove became close friend with her in a very short time, it was his nature after all, and enjoyed her presence and disliked and grew jealous if she decided to spend some time alone. He hated seeing people alone but had to respect the other's space.

Toasty, after Tove became close friend with Ezra, started to, also, become friends with her after being separated for so long. At first, it was hard because she didn't exactly talked with him or anyone, but then she started to tell her things about her life with Stoker and the things he made her see in the Vambery, the cruel experiments being held in the laboratory, the suffering he brought to the humans and creatures, to Sheridan that hated all that, to Carmilla, to Laura. Ezra had suffered a lot those years and had fought against the icy vampire but always ended up so beaten up that only her condition as Terrennial saved her from a certain death. Something that confused Toasty to no end. Wasn't actually Tove the one that was more close to her? Shouldn't be him the one hearing those things? But he didn't ask, he simple listened and gave her a shoulder where to cry on whenever she needed it, a hug, some reassuring words or even a smile. Even when Tove was very close to her, Ezra told Toasty that his naïve and innocent nature prevented him to fully understand other's feelings. Tove wanted everyone to feel better without really understanding the situation behind it.

It was a matter of time for those two to become closer than mere friends, as Alexander often told Tove. The Earth Terrennial didn't understand at first, sometimes spying on them to try to get the meaning of those words by simpler they were. He knew that something was going on when Ezra started to behave in a way too nicely with Toasty, and how the sunflower answered the gestures in the same way. It was Nero who told him that it was very feasible that Ezra and Toasty were in love, but being so stubborn both of them, they didn't have the guts to admit it. Now, in the times that were hitting them, it was natural for Toasty to feel extremely overprotective of Ezra seeing how he deeply cared for her. Aaron was also in his priority list, but a more powerful force shoved him aside and placed the fox Terrennial on it.

Toasty and Tove found themselves thinking about Ezra's feelings. Even thought she was one of the strongest and one of the toughest, her heart was a very fragile thing, much like a thin layer of ice over the smooth surface of a lake. Tove feared she would end up alone (which he doubt it but no one really knew if they were going to live tomorrow after fighting), and Toasty was concerned about her emotional side. She always kept those bad feelings inside and pretends it was all cool. The sunflower frowned and sighed softly. He knew, she knew it wasn't really healthy but he couldn't oblige her to think or act otherwise. It was up to her if she wanted to change that to a more productive way.

"...I had forgotten how this looked...", came Nero's voice. His hair was spiked as he stopped just in front of a collapsed wall. The soup, as Polidori often called it, was intact and had the same feeling and horrible scent from four years ago. The cat looked at it and flew backwards, not really wanting to come closer. Ezra mimicked his movement.

"You don't have to do it if you don't feel like to.", told Dumas to the fox.

Ezra heard the words and they ringed in her head. She remembered the times that Stoker used to mock Sheridan with words similar to those, how he tortured the creatures he brought to the Vambery, his laugh as he heard the screams filling the room. How many times she had desired to end it all? How many times she tried to stop Stoker? How many times she had hoped for him to die or for her to, so the victims could escape? She never thought she would have to ask the help from that man, but she understood that it was needed. After all, this planet was her home too and she was going to do anything to protect it, even if that means to kill and ask for your enemy's aid.

She hated him, she despite him.

Ezra turn into her humanoid form and walked over the wet surface of the soup. Her hands, glowing in a bright blue light, turned into ice.

She disliked him, she hated everything he did in the past, everything he did to her while being in that cage called Casket Armor.

Ezra gave two consecutive punches on the blood like liquid, making it splash all around her. The ice was slowly freezing the surface.

Yet, she didn't have a perfect time to hit Stoker right into his face, to rips his arms off like he did with that kid, or his legs, or open him up and take off his intestine, or his lungs, or his stomach, or any organ she felt like to take out.

"God, FUCK.", she roared as her spell was finally working. The soup around her was moving rather quick and was agitated. The ice was finally rising with the red liquid forming a familiar shape. "I fucking still hate you and I ever will but... there other things more important that hating you for the rest of my eternal life."

The Casket Armor rose from the soup and the ice around it shattered in pieces. The only glowing pincer was the purple one, seeing that the tube where Ernest once was held was broken and how the other needed his power to work, now dyed in a grey color with red stripes only. Both pincers fell on the floor, not moving. The Casket Armor's pilot place was empty, no signs of Stoker. Dumas was the only one, along with Perrault, that dared to come closer to it. He inspected it for a few minutes and then, turning around, he told them to come.

No one knew about alchemy but they suspected it was still working and could be piloted, but Dumas didn't know if others, besides the vampires and the Terrennials, could do it, since the Casket Armors were given strictly by Polidori to them and the former Duke didn't know if the Immortal did something to them, so only Stoker could pilot his own machine. Ernest decided to try it first but, as Dumas suspected, it didn't work at all. When Ezra tried it, it seemed that the machine wanted to move, but soon it was out of energy. The ice Terrennial sighed loudly, rubbing her temples. She knew... She just knew she had to bring him back. The good thing was that, after all ended, Ezra could easily make Stoker disappear if she wanted, but didn't really want to do it right now. So, instead, Tove was the first one that summoned not only the Casket Armor, but the vampire that enclosed him as well.

The big green machine slowly rose from the red liquid and stood over it, while Tove used his magic to bring back Virginia's body. The little vampire girl had his usual sailor themed clothes, all green. Her purple hair was lightly wet because of the soup and her eyes were empty. When the Terrennials were released from the Casket Armors, and the bodies of the vampires were purified, their souls went inside the spirits for them to guard. Tove smiled at seeing her. Even though he had been against the vampire's ideas of an utopia for them, he couldn't blame them for protecting their world from the Immortals. He was also part of it and would do anything to protect it. The Earth Terrennial blew softly over her face and a green wind came from his mouth that enveloped Virginia's body, going inside her by her mouth and nose before fading.

Her eyes recovered their life as she lifted her head slowly, finding Tove's eyes on her own. The vampire girl looked at him, and blinked. She knew him...

"...Tove?", she whispered softly. The Earth Terrennial nodded. "But... wait, the young gunslinger and the dark swordsmaster..."

He put his hands on her shoulders.

"It's a... very long story, but we need yours and the other's help."

"What for? Why don't you tell me?"

Tove turned around and looked at Dumas. Virginia followed his gaze and gasped at the man's sight. She clutched Tove's waist tight, like trying to hide.

"Why is he here?", she asked to the Terrennial. "I thought he also died."

"I did.", replied Dumas, with a sad look on his face. He knew all the things he did when the little girl was under his control, how Edgard protected her and how he ended up receiving the worst of punishment only for showing Dumas he was doing things the wrong way. "I died, but Perrault revived me after Aaron and Lucian defeated Polidori's image at the Vambery, using this very soup that revived you as well."

"And why are you with the gunslinger now? What's happening?", demanded Virginia.

Ezra was the one that told her what's going on and, with a surprise expression the little girl understood that they were only going to serve, once more, as mere tools. It was like that time, years ago, that she and her brother decided to help Dumas in getting rid of Ratatosk. Both of them thought they were going to be free from his stings, only to be tied again to Dumas' ones. She was not going to help anyone if that means to be used again. She rather stays dead than serving like a puppet to its master.

Virginia refused to help. She wasn't going to suffer what she did when serving to Ratatosk and Dumas, even when Tove begged, the little girl hold still on his decision.

"I didn't want to use you at all.", said Dumas. "I only wanted to use the Casket Armors, but I didn't know that only you and you brother can control them."

"What do you expected?", came the girl's sharp response.

"What would I expect if, after all, they were created to be a jail of the Terrennials?", the horned man replied and Virginia closed her mouth. "I supposed that using the Terrennials was enough to turn them on... but guess it isn't."

Virginia looked at the rest of the Terrennials, to Nish and Ernest.

"Maybe with one condition.", she whispered, and Ernest nodded, silently saying that she should continue. "That me and my brother will not be killed after the war."

"But we will destroy yours and your brother's Casket Armors.", said the human and the little girl nodded.

"Fair for me."

Tove also summoned Edgard's machine and his body but, being Alexander the one that held his soul, couldn't do much but boss him around to do what he wanted. Ezra was the next one that summoned her vampire and gave him a new life. Stoker agreed to help without asking anything back. The man, by seeing the ice Terrennial's eyes, that he was only going to help a bit before fading to darkness again. This time, Ezra had power over him and Stoker knew it was better to follow her orders than trying to dominate her.

Ursula had some troubles trying to summon Rymer's body. The fire Terrennial was out of energy the first minute and no one knew why. She said it would take a while so Ernest told the rest to return to the Hideout to prepare for the next fight. That albino vampire said Oyan was going to attack two nights from now, but what it bugged Ernest the most was how that vampire knew about it. He didn't seem dangerous, but couldn't trust anyone so lightly either.

They used Stoker's casket armor to return pretty quickly to the Hideout, leaving Ursula alone in the Vambery to concentrate and do her task. Bea and the rest were very surprised at seeing the new reborn vampires. Ernest reunited everyone in the main room and explained Dumas' idea and how they should move now having three powerful machines at their side. Stoker, surprisingly, suggested some nice ideas about surprising the enemy with the casket armors. Right when he thinks he had dominated them, they would bring them out and attack. Ernest told him about the werewolves, but the mad scientist laughed.

Nero and Perrault concentrated, at last Nero tried, in helping Dumas to gather his Trance ability back. Each time the horned man fused with his Terrennial, his body was drained from all energy and he ended up too tired to move or, sometimes, fainted from it. Lately, he had been able to maintain this ability for a minute or so, but it wasn't enough if he needed to fight, especially against werewolves. Nero was really amused by this, and thought if it couldn't be because Polidori kidnapped his body to Byron and modified it with the soup. Dumas didn't think so, but couldn't think of any other explanation, but if there is one that could explain it should be Alexander, but he wasn't there with them.

"What about Stoker?", suggested the black cat. "Didn't he do genetic experiments while living in the Vambery?"

"He did, but honestly I would hate being his guinea pig.", replied the man.

"Do you see another way of doing this?"

Dumas felt silent. Then, he sighed.

"Alright, alright..."

After finding Stoker in the nursery room helping Tove and explaining to him the problem, he said he knew what to do, but needed a helper and they needed to return to the Vambery to actually do the experiment. Dumas didn't want to go, knowing that Ursula was still there trying to bring back Rymer, and the last thing the horned man needed was to see his dead love being reborn. It would crush the relationship that he and Nish built in this time and he didn't want it to end just like that. But he didn't have a choice. He had to gather his ability back as soon as possible.


	28. Chapter 28

**New chapter. And I think this is where I torture Dumas the most ****from all the story, starting with physical and ending in psycological torture. XD **

**Thanks to Kemeno and RandyPandy for thei reviews!!**

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28

Dumas knew it would be unplesant being Stoker's new experiment. What he didn't know was that Tove would enjoy it, too. The earth Terrennial, so shy, naïve and happy, turned out to be as sadist as Lucian could ever get, and this made Stoker really happy. The man disliked having a helper that doesn't know what he wants or the things he wants to use. Sheridan, being human perhaps, didn't share Stoker's passions and that often brung nasty fights between them, but with Tove was a different thing. Without even telling him anything, the young boy already knew what the man needed or wanted, and that was what scared Dumas to no end. Perrault and Nero seemed not surprised by this hidden fact of Tove, as they knew about it all along.

They went to the fourty floor of the Vambery, where Stoker held all his genetic stuff. Dumas was ordered to discard his clothes and casket armor and was given a simple, white short to wear only. Tove helped him to get on the table and quickly handcuffed his wrist and ankles to it, giggling while doing so. The horned man was starting to dislike this idea even more, but there was no turning back this time. Stoker started with simple blood tests and other things, examinating the man's body and taking also small pieces of his skin and, Dumas didn't know how, his Dark Matter. The tests were held in another room, next to where Dumas was staying, and Stoker and Tove stayed there for about two hours, more or less.

The horned man took a glance around the room where he was staying and noticed a lot of jars over shelves, syringes, little bottles with transparent liquid, others with weird colors, surgery stuff, among other things. He had never been in the Vambery, at last not in the fouty floor, and it really creeped him out. Besides, after not being used for some time, it was getting dirty and that added a creepier look to it. And being tied up on a cold, metal table wasn't helping either. Dumas struggled and found it useless; there was no way he could break those handcuffs. After all, Stoker had designed it to be resistant, including to vampires so it was no surprise that Dumas couldn't break them. He looked at the high ceiling and noticed the lanters hanging from it. They gave little light, almost for a human to see around.

Tove returned with Stoker following him, both of them chatting in a very low voice so Dumas didn't understand a thing what were talking about. The only thing that worried him was the strange bottles and the syringes they were carrying over a metal platter. Perrault and Nero were resting over an empty table, watching everything from there. They both knew somehow what those bottles had but, if they ever told Dumas, the man would freak out and will try to run away. If he struggles, then the chances of hurting him will be very high. It was better to keep silent for the moment.

"So, I developed some... vaccine, you could say.", Stoker took one of the syringes and filled it with a strange, purple liquid. Dumas frowned. "I don't know how they will react once they are in your body, but with the samples we took they worked fine."

"Bloody hell...", mumbled the horned man when he felt the stitch of the needle on his left arm. He feasted his fists and took a deep breath.

"So, let's wait a few minutes to see how...Oh...", the vampire noticed how Dumas started to feel rather... sick. "Tove...", the eart Terrennial already was holding a bucket so, when the handcuffs were loose, Dumas turned around, grabbed the bucket and threw up. "Mm... Let him rest about five minutes and we will give him the second one."

Tove left Dumas' side and went for a glass of water that, after the horned man finished throwing up everything he had in his stomach, gave to him. The vampire took a long sip before falling over the table again.

The next three shots had the exact same reaction. By now, the horned man's esophagus was burning in pain due to the sotmach acid that he threw up. And Stoker was runing out from the vaccines he made earlier, thinking why they would made Dumas so sick like that, when half of them worked well on his skin and blood.

"Should I take some samples of his organs?", asked Stoker when the vampire had recovered a bit, but paled again after hearing those words. "We could work better like that."

"From all of them?", said Tove.

"What the fuck?!", cried Dumas. "You are NOT going to stick those bloody syringes in me like that!!"

"Then how do you think I will find your cure?", Stoker glared to the former Duke. "I gave you four shots, and the four of them made you sick. I need more samples to be sure it will work."

"Why me, why me...?", mumbled Dumas, resting his head over the table, looking at the ceiling.

He suffered quiet a lot, more than he did while serving to Ratatosk. Stoker and Tove enjoyed using long needles and other stuff to pick up some samples of his liver, kidneys, stomach (for this, they stuck a long flexible tube with a little light down his throat which Dumas disliked very much), lungs and heart. Stoker tried to convince him in getting a brain sample, but the former Duke almost killed him right there, so the Baron decided, for his own life, not to bother him with that anymore. Or at last as long he was conscious. Stoker grinned to himself, thinking the ways he could take a sample of the former Duke's brain with the stuff he had in the next floor.

They took two more samples of his Dark Matter, seeing the other one was already used. The two cat Terrennials, seeing that the Baron and the earth Terrennial were going to take a while, decided to give Dumas some comfortable company for the meaning time.

"Had Ursula successes into getting Rymer back?", asked the man, complaining at how his wrists and ankles hurt now.

"I don't think so.", answered Nero. "Otherwise, she should have returned to the Hideout. Besides, while being here, we hadn't felt anything yet."

The former Duke looked at the ceiling, the far ceiling. It was all gray; some spider webs were hanging from it, some of them made their own home doing a hole in the walls. He sighed, looking away. He couldn't believe that Ursula was going to revive Rymer knowing what he felt for him, and the strange feelings he was developing for Nish. He was truly afraid now, he was very nervous about it. He didn't know if he was capable of looking at Rymer to his eyes again, or even looking at Nish anymore. He was right in the middle of a path, a path that went to right or left, and he didn't know which to take.

It was so frustrating. After four long years, he had managed his loneliness and his anger towards Lucian for killing Rymer. He even decided to help him with his transformation since the man knew that no one but him would be willing to give him advices in it. Lucian was reluctant at first, he didn't know if Dumas was the same man from the last war, or if he had changed. He was really surprised when the former Duke acceded to help him but with a condition. Lucian snarled at that. It should be predictable in a man like him, but what Dumas asked was quiet hard, and Lucian didn't know if he was going to be capable of doing it. He told Dumas he was going to do all he could to fulfill his condition, but he didn't have any guarantees of making it work. Dumas said it was alright with it, as long as he tried.

Everything was going well until Oyan and Ernest decided to talk by phone, and slowly this little war started to grow. Dumas and Lucian forgot about the matter since Oyan took over the Guild, concentrating in what was more urgent, but then he suggested using the Casket Armors, and now Ursula was trying to revive Rymer. In all honestly, he didn't want to see Rymer again. Sure, he will still have that especial place in his heart, but… he was now in his past, like the man he used to be. He had a new beginning; he had re-started his life with new attitudes, new thoughts, new friends, a new lover… Why it had to be like this? Why his life couldn't be more messed up? He really needed a small break, a little breath. Dumas really hoped that, after the war, everything would be a little less chaotic.

Stoker interrupted his musing as he noisily made his entrance once more. He watched how the horned man wasn't interested in the Baron's new vaccines, but that didn't really affected Stoker as he, this time, had around ten syringes filled with different colored liquids, to which Dumas glared at, especially the black one. The cats flew away from the examination table and landed on each of Tove's shoulder, watching from a safe distance and hearing Stoker's little speech as to what he was going to do now. After the examination of Dumas' cellules, he was positive that he had found ten different ways of fixing him. But after seeing how bad the first attempt ended up, Tove wasn't sure if this one was going to be a complete success, as Stoker had mentioned it before back in the lab. The Earth Terennial only prayed that the vaccines didn't kill Dumas.

The first three didn't do anything at all. The horned man's status wasn't changed by the liquid, not even his brain cells or anything. Stoker had predicted that, maybe, the vaccines would alter, just a bit, his brain. Only the normal, he assured to the freaked out vampire, who really wanted to get the hell out of the Vambery and never return.

The other two made Dumas throw up, the sixth made him faint for ten minutes. The seventh hurt so much that Stoker decided not to keep introducing the liquid into Dumas' system. They eight one, the black one, was actually the one that reacted in him, but in a very violent way. The moment the vaccine started to take effect, five minutes after the shot, the vampire's Dark Matter went crazy, and his primal and bestial instincts came out. He growled and roared, trying to get break the handcuffs, biting when Stoker or Tove tried to get close to him. Streams of Dark Matter were coming out from his pores, his claws grew longer the normal and his horns turned crimson. Perrault gasped, noticing that his master was actually getting into Trance mode but, without her! How could be this possible?

The wings shot from his back and hit the machines next to the table, one of them falling down on the floor and doing a heavy noise. The second, but much smaller pair came out from his head as strange marks appeared on his body. He managed to break the handcuff concealing his ankles as his legs morphed, turning more beast-alike, like taloons. Dumas let out a long hiss before the transformation was complete. The Dark Matter vanished in the air and the man was soon back to his old self, panting hard and sweating, feeling extremely tired.

"Fuck…", he moaned in pain, his fingers twitching involuntary. "My whole body hurts…"

"I can't believe it…", whispered Stoker, admiring the results from the vaccine. The syringe still had a bit of leftover from it. "Pure Dark Matter seems to bring the original form in the Duke, which means that probably every vampire will able to get into this state doing their own personal vaccine."

"What are you talking about?", asked Dumas, not really noticing that his body had changed quiet a lot.

"I amplified the native Dark Matter you had inside your body, the natural for vampires, as you well know.", he grabbed the syringe and smiled to himself. "Making it completely pure."

"Wait… ", the horned man could seat on the table as he looked at the Baron. "The original energy is the Lunar one…"

"Exactly."

Then, it hit him.

"Of course! Since we are creatures created by the Moon itself, it was obvious that its pure energy would bring our original form back!", he said as Stoker nodded. "But, why can't we do it like Werevoles do? I mean, we are under the Moon by night…"

"Because that light is not the Moon's true one. It's the Sun's reflect on the Moon. In other words, indirect Sunlight.", explained Stoker. He started to play with the left side of his mustache. "That's why we can't get into our true forms. Werewolves have it easier, since the only thing they need is to be under the Moon when it's full. They don't require its energy at all, only its presence."

Only when Stoker finally untied him, Dumas could understand how his body changed. He had those strange markings Lucian had when he transformed, and now he was sure it was because he had, finally, reached his original form. It would be cool if every vampire helping them could access to this, but he didn't know if there was enough time for it. Now like this, Dumas didn't really need his Trance ability back; this was a thousand times better. He made some flying tests and it went well after so much time. He looked different, yet he didn't feel any different. He could feel an enormous energy flowing in his body, but it was all normal, all natural.

Dumas left with the cats, leaving Tove and Stoker in the Vambery to fix up the Casket Armors for the next battle.

The same day of the fight, Dumas practiced all morning and afternoon with his new form. Nish was glad to help him as they both had a few air combats in the woods, having a lot of fun trying to see what Dumas was capable of with his new powers. He actually could do what he always did in his Trance form but now, his energy was much more flexible than before and he could do different types of things that he normally wouldn't as a vampire. He also gained an element with this transformation, as he and Nish noticed while fighting. In his way to block one of Nish ice attacks, his hand suddenly went into fire and shot a massive fire thrower to him. The albino barely dodged the attack as he watched the horned man surprised. Excited about this, Dumas started to practice and try to get his fire powers out and noticed the many things he could do with them. Then he laughed at the irony of it. Nish was ice, and he was fire. Rymer was also fire. Perhaps it was when the man mated with him, that he trespassed some of his powers to his body, much like Lucian does with Aaron.

When the Sun set, they both returned to the Hideout to rest before going to Acuna. The Casket Armors were already cleaned and fixed by Stoker's and Tove's hands. Virginia was rather nervous and Ezra tried to calm her down, but without her brother, she felt alone. Edgard was there, but without soul. He could move his body, but couldn't think by his own. Virginia had to order him so he could do something. Tove said that Alexander should be in this fight and they would be able to gather his soul back too. The Earth Terrennial said he would pilot Edgard's machine while waiting for the Wind Terrennial to appear, and Virginia agreed.

Stoker's one was fully powered, but the Solar Pincer was still unpowered. It could move, hit and crush, but it didn't have the same solar powers it used to four years ago, and Ernest refused to slip inside the test tube.

"I can give you a copy of the Dragoon for you to use, but no way in hell I'm getting inside that bloody thing again.", told the man to the Baron, very serious.

"Oh, are you? That will be better then. Last time I had to hear you and Ice Terrennial bitch inside the Casket Armor and it was so annoying…"

Ernest rolled his eyes as he gave Stoker a replace for the original Dragoon. The Baron made a few modifications to it before plunging it in the Casket Armor. After giving it some energy, the Solar Pincer was charged up once more with solar power. They moved pretty quickly. Just when the Sun hid, Ernest moved with the vampire group, Nish and Dumas. Virginia and the rest of the Terrennials were marching just behind them, but ended up taking another path to completely hide from the enemy until they were needed.

Dark Shadow was following them from the air. Since he could control shadows at will, he made his body morph into a bird-like creature. His whole body, except his nose, eyes and hair, was all covered with darkness, his legs were joined together and his arms were now wings. He flapped them and looked forthwards. With those werewolves, Lucian and the huge machine of Nidhoggr, this battle was going to end not so well, and Dark Shadow didn't know what Dyango was thinking when he told him they should wait for it.

"He must be insane... to do this...", he mumbled in the silence of the night that was soon going to be interrupted.

Ernest hides in a different zone from the usual. Dumas and Nish were transmiting information about the desert streets using his dark powers. It all seemed too quiet, but the vampires smelled them; those wolves... they were right in front of them. All of them gripped down their silvery weapon and prayed this plan would work. If not, all was lost.

The first sign they had of Oyan being there was Lucian, who growled, still tied up with the bloddy ropes. Dumas, upon his sight, gripped his teeth. He didn't know if Stoker was going to be able to bring such huge beast down so easily.

"Fuck!", the former Duke cursed when a crimson spike rose from the ground right next to him. "Damn it..."

"It's all right. He is sure trying to localize us to not screw things up.", assured Nish.

"I'm trusting you."

The albino smiled and got into his full form, crawling up the building and glueing himself to the roof, hearing the soft steps Lucian made with his wolf form. He also felt the werewolves running with him, sniffing the air and quickly knowing where the vampries were. Barely standing up, he made a sign to Ernest and the man ordered to move to the right and then forwards. They knew the werewolves would smell them up, but it was no good if they didn't know where they were heading right now. Stoker and the others were in the paralel street the werewolves and Lucian were coming down and, thanks to the Terrennial's presence, those creatures weren't paying attentiont to it.

Then it was Nidhoggr. The vampire boy was sitting in his control room, watching everything from the cameras. He watched how Alexander, out there, was talking with Máximo and, perhaps, calming him down and giving reassuring words to the rookie. Nidhoggr bit his bottom lip. This was the night. If he didn't take this opportunity, he was not going to succeed at his revenge.

"Don't move! You are making me nervous!", he shouted to the back of his machine. There were some fabric noises and then a loud sight.

"I'm sorry, I will try not to..."

Nidhoggr gripped the controls tightly. It was now, or never.

The snake machine screeched as it lunched forwards and turned to the left, finding Ernest's group easily. Dumas was the first one in counterattack; he summoned his original form and blocked the machine's missils with a dark barrier. Some grenades were shot to him and exploded on its body, before slipping away and shotting missils along the way. Most vampires were covering their comrades while the others were attacking and the rest kept walking forwards. Ernest stayed as Bea and Kay lead the other group, shouting orders and seeing how the north gunslingers suddenly decided to move.

Lucian roared when Nish impaled his icy needles in his body, receiving a hard hit in return. His group was already fighting with the werewolves but, luckily, their number was slowly decreasing thanks to the silvery weapons. Cyryl didn't know what to do in order to kill them, as werewolves didn't have energy to manipulate like vampires. They only could use their brutal and animal strengh in close range combats. They didn't have any weapons either to use as humans. In other words, they were lightly fucked up.

Nish managed to freez Lucian's legs, inmovilizing him for a few minutes. The ice vampire needed to figure out which of the two vampires he was going to ask help; Stoker or the Poes? But that question was soon answered when he saw, rising between the buildings, a giant snake, the same they saw when Lucian was captured. This creature slipped his tongue in and out several times before launching towards Lucian and biting his throat. The wolf whined in pain but hit the snake with his frontal paws, scratching the scaled surface of it and dealing deep wounds. It attacked Lucian once more and managed to slip on him and maintain him on the floor using his massive weight. The wolf growled angrily. Besides barely moving from the ropes, now he had a huge snake on him. Lucian thought nothing could turn out worst than this as he sighted angrily.

Stoker came and, like a bull, run over several transformed werewolves. They cried out in pain as the mad scientist watched from his cabine the scared look in their face. Ezra, who was just sitting behing the man in a second seat he did for her, grinned and twisted her tails. Sadly, she and the rest of the Terrennials had a little of insanity in them, a little self that loved to create chaos and enjoying hurting others. Not even Tove, one of the most innocent from them, escaped from it. He was sure a little darn sadist.

"Bring it on, Stoker.", her fur shone in a creamy blue light as an ice armor appeared over the crab shaped casket armor.

Stoker only laughed as he launched again to the werewolves with both pincirs upright, hitting the nearest one with the yellow one and burning his fur, setting him on fire. The ice bombs he shot froze the floor and some of Cyryl's men slipped on it, finding a painful dead under those pincirs.

"This is so much fun...", commented the Ice Terrennial.

"Heh...", laughed Stoker. "Then why you fought against us four years ago?"

"Because no human or vampire had the right to control this planet.", answered. "If humans were the ones trying to make a utopia for them, a world without vampires, we would have helped vampires."

"And what are you doing right now?"

"Fighting for my beliefs, like you and the Duke did four years ago."

Stoker laughed once again as he shot a dense Dark Cloud to a group of three werewolves that was heading to them.

Virgnia and Tove, who was piloting Edgard's Casket Armor as he was sitting quietly behind him, made an entrace similar to Stoker's; both machines came from no where and slipped on the floor, knocking out the running north gunsligers and taking Oyan out of guard. Máximo was trembling, but the grin on Alexander's face told him that the machine showing up was a good thing. Virginia gave a lot of punches and Tove kicks. But what made the horde of men wide in shock was that Tove's Casket Armor was reflecting all solar shots, just like it did when Aaron and Lucian fought with them. The Earth Terrennial laughed as he was also trying to spot Alexander, but the man came to him as he jumped on the head of the Casket Armor. Máximo was with him too, dragged by the Wind Terrennial to a safer place where to talk.

They found a nice and dark hallway to stay. Alexander and the rookie got off as both mouths oppened to reveal Tove and Virginia.

"Sir Alexander!", shouted the girl, happily.

"Aahhh...", he grinned. "I know where this is heading and I really, really like it.", he turned to Virginia. "This is Máximo and you nor your brother or anyone should kill him, alright?"

She giggled, and the boy felt very out of place.

"Very well, but hurry up and bring my brother's soul back so we can fight!"

The man turned into a light purple wind that went straight into Edgard's body, the same way Tove did with Virginia. The boy arose from his sleep and, connected to Alexander's soul, knew what he had to do. Tove did the same and fused with the girl's Casket Armor before both of them closed.

"You should stay in a safe place once this is over.", said Edgard. "But I don't know where."

"Oh! I know!", said Virginia. "What if we carry him with us?"

"Isn't that a bit dangerous?"

"No. I meant that one of us carries him inside our Casket Armors!"

"Works for me.", then, it opened again. "Come, jump in."

Máximo did what it was told and, once they were all ready, they returned to the fight.

Kay's group was taking care of the one being leaded by Recher right now. Oyan seemed to look out for Lucian, since he hadn't seen the wolf for quiet some time and was starting to worry. But he still had the boy back in the Guild. That man was surely going to return even if he was rescued by his partners, but it will be more difficult for him and his men to stop him. Bea's little group intercepted him and Oyan growled, telling his comrades to kill them right away. The woman took out her Witch and started to shot at will, not really caring at all. Her missiles hit on their target, being dragged to them like metal was dragged towards the magnet, killing the instantly. The vampires under her orders were also doing their job with their dark powers, besides protecting the humans in their group against the gunslingers.

The surprise came when Nidhoggr actually showed up there. He had finished with Dumas' group, and was now watching this new fight. The vampire boy took a deep breath. His hands were shaking so much.

"Ah, what the fuck...", he said. "Fuck all this shit.", came angrily as he launched towards the horde of north gunslingers.

Oyan watched, dumbfoded, how the snake was killing his men using the huge weight of it. He didn't understand why Nidhoggr did something like this. What was happening to him? The auburn man cursed under his breath and kept going, not bothering with it.

Just when that group was completely finished, Nidhoggr rested the head of his snake close to Bea and opened it.

"Come inside.", told to her.

"What? Are you kidding me?!", shouted her back, holding her Witch tightly.

"It's alright, Bea.", came a second voice, very familiar for the woman. "I will tell you everything if you get inside."

She swallowed and looked at her group.

"Lobreta.", a woman around her age but with vampiric features with long, blonde hair and a pair of black horns growing from her head came to Bea's call.

"Yes, ma'am."

"I will leave the rest to you.", orderes as she walked inside the machine and disappeared when the mouth closed. "Go help Kay now."

"Yes."

The snake lifted his head and slipped away, going to where Lucian was staying.

Bea walked forwards, barely seeing anything in that darkness, hearing the sound the machine did while going away. Then, he saw some bright lights and, before she knew it, she was in the control room of it. Nidhoggr was sitting in front of the computers, with his Machine King in automatic mode. The vampire boy turned around to watch her and shook his right hand, telling her to come closer. Bea, with the Wtich still in hands, did so.

"I really thought you were going to shoot, but guess that women, humans or vampire, are very overfamilliar.", said to her. "Your gender should take more precautions."

"We are still, us women, alive and kicking, even being like that.", Bea replied and saw a funny grin show in the boy's face.

"I like you. I guess the kid does have interesting people to stick up with."

He turned to the controls and pushed some buttoms.

"What you want from me? Where is he?"

"Back there.", said, pointing to a location. "He is pretty cold. Before I got him here with the Wind Terrennial, Oyan decided to extract him some blood."

"Wait... Oyan actually did that?"

"Yeah. He is with an IV now. I'm trying to speed up the blood transfusion before this thing ends. I don't think he will be capable of controlling Lucian if he faints."

Bea kept walking. She put the Witch against the wall of the insides of the machine and, with a huge smile; she rushed and hugged Aaron, crying with joy, happy to see he was alive. She stepped back and smiled, the boy returning the gesture.

"You look good, brat.", said Bea.

"I have been better, thanks. Oyan took almost half of my blood to prevent that I would break the spell on Lucian and now I'm trying to recover it all.", he pointed up and Bea followed, seeing a half empty blood bag. "I haven't even finished the first one."

"But... Why is the spy helping you? Why he helped me?"

"Tell her, kid.", came Nidhoggr's reply and so, Aaron told her his story and the reason why he suddenly decided to attack Oyan's army.

Bea understood his reasons and feelings, but he should work hard for Ernest's approvement if he wanted to fight along then. Nidhoggr told her he already knew about that, but he said that there were two or three people that would be happy to have him in their side. When Bea asked, the vampire boy only laughed.

Dumas was now having a hard time dealing with Oyan's group. He and Ernest had a few issues with the aunburn man, especially when he had twice the members thee had right now. The former Duke whispered to the gunslinger it was better if he and the vampires attacked, letting the humans return to base, safe.

"The hell? I'm not going to leave you here to fight alone!", shouted the tanned man.

Even when the reaction made Dumas surprised, the vampire smiled.

"I will not be alone. These guys are pretty though. Don't worry about me."

"You better come alive. I don't want to deal with Nish's breakdown like the other day...", warned Ernest before leaving with the five or seven humans in the group.

Dumas thought about it and it made him corageous to keep going, to keep moving. There was someone who was expecting his return. He hadn't felt that in such long time. He was about to make his move when the entire people in there heard a woman scream and what it seemed to be horse's steps on the stoned floor. The gunslingers turned around and some of them cursed out loud when a huge tower of fire went past them. Some of them took the opportunity to attack and Dumas was hit several times, one of the hits being a hand grenade that made him flew away, hit the floor, roll and finally stop when he twisted his legs and arms. His wings covered his body of a second incoming attack and then, he peeped between them, his eyes widening in shock at the scene in front of him.

Ursula was screaming, really excited as she moved her arms and hands, creating dangerous fire attacks. Being herself a fire dancer it was easy for her to create hypnotic movements that the enemy couldn't decipher, unless it knew the dance as Ursula. The Fire Terrennial was sure having a lot of fun and the gunslingers had a hard time counterattacking her since she was riding a centaur, a fire centaur to be precise. His armor was entirely red and crimson, he had a fierily tail moving around and burning whatever it came across with. He had a huge and long lance in his right hand and over his left one, a crossbow, with which he pierced the men chests or heads.

"Burn in hell, you assholes!!", screamed Ursula, creating with a powerful fire ball an explosion that not only made a nice hole on the floor, but also took a few limbs from her enemies.

"Damn it, your energy never empties or what?", came the centaur as he stopped to turn around. He was wearing a strange, blue helmet with a red horn on it.

"Never, ever!!", she said, laughing. "Come on, Rymer! We still have some work to do!!"

He launched again towards the gunslinger group and, with his crossbow, he managed to kill a few and then, with his lance, the remaining ones.

Dumas watched from the distance, how the man he used to love with all his might was alive and moving once more. He knew that his idea was going to be a disaster, but he didn't know that it would affect him this much. He knew he had to say 'only Stoker and the Poes', for obvious reasons, but he didn't. In the end, that desire to see Rymer again didn't leave his heart and now that he had it, he didn't know what to do. He whined in pain from the earlier hand grenade and stayed in the same place he was now.

Dumas didn't realize that everything was over, not even when the remaining gunslingers decided to run away, scared for their lives. He sure was seeing, but he wasn't watching. Ursula kicked out the last ones, and Rymer turned around, spotting Dumas on the floor, with his wings folded on his back, his eyes wondering into the nothingness.

The vampire returned to his normal form, with his Casket Armor and the fire symbol pin on it. He obviously lacked the cape because Dumas conserved it, but his features remained the same. The man sighed, not moving. He was, in truth, also a little scared. He hadn't seen Dumas in four long years, four years being sealed inside Ursula. His soul was weak, and didn't know for how long the Fire Terrennial was going to be able to maintain it in the body. He slowly approached the horned man, taking indecisive steps. Just by seeing him, Rymer knew Dumas wasn't the same from four years ago. His eyes shone in a different way, his body, still the same, told different things from the ones he knew. This Dumas was more confident about himself.

"…Dumas?", he softly called. Rymer almost didn't recognize his voice, not to talk about the vampire kneeling on the floor.

Dumas lifted his head and frowned, crawling a few steps away from him. His wings instantly covered his body, in a protection way. He watched Rymer, he noticed his familiar short and orange hair, the shape of his head and face, his thick neck. He had kissed it, he had touched it, he had caressed it, he had bit it, he knew it. And that wide chest and shoulders, and back, and arms, and legs, and wrist, and fingers. He knew it all, Dumas knew it all… Why he had to return in a time like this? Why, after so long, he never thinks before saying? Even when one of his deepest desires comes true, he was scared. And he had another responsibility to take care of, only if he wanted to keep up with that. He didn't know if Rymer was going to maintain that form forever, or if it was for a short time.

"Even after so long…", Rymer heard Dumas said in a whisper. "Even after so long… I'm still an idiot, I'm still act without keeping in mind the consequences.", the fire vampire knew he was referring to the idea of reviving the others, as Ursula told him. Rymer really wanted to approach even more and hold Dumas into his arms, but it would be more heartbreaking for him, and he didn't want that for him. "I can't decide…", warm tears left his eyes as they rolled over his cheeks and then, down on the floor. "I don't want to…"

"You don't have to…"

"Shut up!!", shouted the horned man, startling Rymer in his place. "Just… shut up and let me… think…"

"Sorry…", whispered the fire vampire.

He didn't mean to sound so rough, but it just came out of him. He was furious, he was angry and frustrated, scared and yet happy at the same time. How could his mind, body and heart feel so many emotions in a single moment, in a single day? He couldn't bear it anymore, all the deception, all the sadness, all those dark feelings. Dumas was truly happy being besides Nish, even if he denied it to the albino vampire. He really desired to be his mate, he wasn't just prepared. That's all. And then it was him, standing in front of him, alive, waiting for him. A sudden rage built inside Dumas, his wings shaking in anger. The man was happy, he was living his life how he always wanted; no bounds, no master, no horrible orders, no nothing. But if there was one thing that he will never rip of it was his past, and it was just standing in front of him.

It was just there; all the memories, all the nice feelings, all the warmth he felt while being with Rymer, all his thoughts about him and the way he saw things while being the ruler of all, his old self. Dumas gripped his teeth, getting more and more furious with himself. That old self, that bastard, that selfish, that narcissist, that killer, that horrible man. Not only Rymer made him remember those beautiful feelings, but also the one he used to be and the one he wasn't right now.

He wasn't a bastard now; he just had a little temper. He wasn't selfish; he actually learned to give much more he was going to receive. He wasn't a killer; he only kills for food or if it was necessary. He wasn't like that anymore, he wasn't, he wasn't, he wasn't…

"I'm not like that…", said in a whisper.

Rymer heard it and lowered his head.

"I know you aren't."

Dumas growled. How this man in front of him was still able to see through him? How Rymer managed to know him that well? Was he too obvious sometimes? Or did he unconsciously say all his thoughts out loud, without even hearing his own voice?

"Dumas…", continued Rymer, making small steps towards the man.

"Don't come any closer!!", shouted the horned man, showing his fangs to him, with his eyes growling red of anger.

But, to whom he was rejecting? Rymer or those memories of himself? Which he wanted, the fire vampire or that self that was trying to get back at him? The fire vampire tried to reach out again, but Dumas roared and launched to him, but not doing anything to the bigger body of Rymer, which knew exactly how to block his attack.

"Hands off!!", screamed a new but much angrier voice.

Rymer had time to only turn his head and see a blue blur come to him and tackle him to the ground, separating him from Dumas, who was trying to gather information at what just happened. But there was no other vampire he knew he used ice powers like that. The needles penetrated the Casket Armor and stuck into Rymer's flesh, making him bleed for a few seconds before they melt at the intense heat the armor was liberating. The fire vampire looked up, to left, to the right and then he saw him. He was utterly pissed; his hair was all spiked up, showing his fangs and looking at him with those bloody red eyes. His tail was flagging in the air, ready to strike, as he also cracked his fingers before attacking again. This time, Rymer summoned a fire tower that blocked the icy attacks by melting them, but didn't stop Nish from coming again, giving the fire vampire a nice hit with his tail, cracking his arm armor.

Rymer stood up and jumped away from the albino's next move, studying his form and figure. Just by seeing it, he thought that was his original form since he barely wore armor similar to his or Dumas, but didn't know why that vampire was attacking him, unless…

Ursula told him that Dumas was being very friendly with a new vampire that the horned man met during mating season a month ago. Seeing how this ice vampire was reacting at the angered voice of Dumas and seeing him beaten up, no wonder he was attacking him like that. He must have thought he was the one that injured him and that vampire, was surely Dumas' new partner.

Nish came to him again, but Rymer dodged him and punched him very hard on his back, throwing him against a house and making the wall fall over him. Dumas, desperately that his partner was heavily injured, he run to him, only to stop in half of his path. He gripped his teeth and fist; he looked at Rymer, then to Nish.

"Fuck you both!!", he cried before opening his wings and flying away.

The fire vampire couldn't help it and smiled, walking towards the fallen one and putting away some of the rubble on his body. The albino was alright, but with a terrible pain in his back. He looked up to Rymer and frowned, recognizing him.

"Dumas never told me you were that tall…", said when the fire vampire helped him to his feet. His back ached in pain as a gosebump traveled all over it. "…It …fucking… hurts…"

"Sorry about that.", apologized the auburn man.

"It's ok; you were just defending yourself, though I don't think I will be able to walk."

Rymer didn't have a choice but to summon his centaur form. He helped Nish to his back and, after the albino told him where to go, he rushed back to the Hideout, in where Dumas was already, crying his heart out.


	29. Chapter 29

**Moar chapters….!! **

**Kemeno: *shivers too* But… I just love torturing him. XD**

**Lady: (can I call you Lady, yes?) That pairing is starting to get into my system. XD**

**Enjoy the new chapter. :3 See ya in a while!!**

* * *

29

The werewolves noticed it was time to leave when the ropes covering Lucian's body slowly disappeared. Cyryl screamed the orders to his men and everyone left the battling zone as Nidhoggr was just slipping into the opposite direction. Everyone gathered around in front of Lucian and hold their weapons tight in their hands, waiting. The snake stopped and opened its mouth from where Bea came running. Ernest, upon seeing her, quickly left Kay behind and hugged her tightly, whispering into her hear how happy he was to see her again, though he got happier when Nidhoggr walked outside his machine with Aaron, who was still pale but had enough strength to stood up and walk. By now, the ropes around Lucian's body had disappeared entirely and, taking advantage of that, he took off the snake over him and continued to fight with it.

It didn't pass a lot of time when the snake returned to its original form, the form of the lance and, intrigued and curious, Lucian returned to his normal form too, only to see a man he hadn't expect to see ever again, and the reaction towards it wasn't exactly the one the young man was expecting either.

"You are supposed to be dead!!", came the angry voice of Lucian as he and Dyango struggled, showing their fangs to each other and trying to rip their heads off. "You fucking died thirty-fucking years ago!!!"

"I was supposed too, asshole!!", came Dyango's reply as he shoved Lucian off him and blocked a punch straight to his face. "You have no fucking idea was to be sealed in that lonely and cold prison for two bloody years!!"

"And you have no fucking idea what I had to go through under Ratatosk's hands as his fucking toy!!", Lucian took Dyango's shoulder and pinned him against a wall, grasping his throat tightly.

"Do you… know what I felt when you turned against me? Did you?!?", screamed the young man. By now, Aaron and the rest were approaching both men slowly. "Fuck…", he started to cry. "I was really hoping you could get me outside that damn prison… I really did."

Lucian grinned and started to laugh.

"You always been a fucking dreamer!", he hit Dyango's forehead with his, making the younger male moan in pain, while Lucian grinned even more. "Tell me, when was the last time that I fulfill your expectations?", the young one opened his mouth but closed it after. "That's right! NEVER!"

But he didn't expect to Dyango to grin like he did and Lucian didn't like that.

"But tell me, _Lucian_, are you fulfilling the boy's expectations?", asked as his red eyes roamed over the crowd that was gathering around.

Just then, the vampire looked around and saw everyone looking at them, worrying for Lucian mostly and then, he saw Nidhoggr, Aaron and Dark Shadow standing there. He looked back at Dyango, to the crowd again and smiled insanely. Dyango swallowed hard.

"Oh? So have you caught some of my taste for setting things up like this?", he chuckled. "You have grown so smart, so very smart…", he released him and the young man slip down to the floor. "So what? You just came from dead to taunt me or something?"

"No, so that child gets to know what he respectably has to know as your mate.", answered Dyango and laughed at Lucian's expression. He stood up and dusted off his clothes, showing his fangs. "You see? You should have killed me with your own hands instead of simple leaving me to rot with the Boks down there…", he walked past Lucian and smiled to Dark Shadow, who sighed in relief.

Lucian was utterly pissed. And yes, he agreed with Dyango. He should have of killed him, he just have of put a damn hole between his eyes before dropping his body into the prison. Now, he was regretting doing what Ratatosk ordered him to do.

They all returned to the Hideout. Ernest had put some handcuffs on Nidhoggr, just to be safe, and he then started to chat with Dyango about why he had waited so long to join them. Dark Shadow was also with them, and Aaron was quiet happy the man finally did it, but also curious about the early fight he and Lucian had, of which the man didn't say a thing when the boy asked. He simply watched him and then returns his gaze to the front and, even when he didn't say anything, Aaron knew it was an 'I tell you latter' look. After so long, he learned how to decipher Lucian's looks.

The machine had to stay outside the Hideout and in a hidden place, far from it. They couldn't risk being discovered by Oyan's group, though Alice was always giving information about it almost every minute.

Lucian went straight to the little space he and Aaron shared without saying a word. The boy followed and sat on his lap, watching him wander his eyes in everything else except him.

"What's your problem?", asked the boy. He didn't dare giving the vampire a smooth caress because he was terrible angry. It was a miracle Lucian let the boy sit on his lap being like this.

"That fucking man…"

"Dyango?"

"Yes, him!", he gripped his teeth, his eyes shining in anger. He sighed. "He just haunts me, like always."

"From where do you know him? I bet you and him known each other from a long, long time ago seeing you have this… hate towards him."

Lucian groaned. As Dyango stated, he will have to tell him his past in order for him to understand what was going on right now. But he needed time to cool down before that so, after kindly saying that to Aaron, the boy smiled and nodded, lying on top of him as he hugged his vampire. The man sighed, putting his right hand over his eyes while with the other he petted the boy's head.

He really thought he had, much like Dumas, ripped of his past.

Nidhoggr went though a very exhausting interrogation from Ernest. Alexander had told him everything about him and that he should trust the vampire boy will not betray them as he did with Oyan. The Wind Terrennial also told his story and why he stuck with Oyan, but Ernest said he will have to consider it and talk it with the rest of the group. Nidhoggr seemed to be fine with it as the tanned man and Kay went to the other man, Dyango and Dark Shadow.

Ernest, Kay, Bea, Nish, Dumas and Aaron reunited in the most private room from the hideout with the young man and his vampire companion. After the fight, Dyango still had Lucian's hand marks over his neck but they were healing pretty quickly. Once everyone was in it, Ernest started with his questions.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Dyango, pleased to meet you all.", answered. "I'm a writer and I am the author of that famous book about vampirism most of you might know already.", all of them nodded in agreement. "I spend most of my time searching and talking with vampires and their mates to see what type of reactions they had to different situations, write them down and then do a book about it for the purpose to understand them more."

"Do you realize that with that you can bring vampires down, right?", said Dumas, his gaze locked on the blonde man. Dyango nodded.

"No wonder you were the first one to censor it.", he laughed when the rest turned to see him.

"What? You would have done the same in my place!", excused himself as he crossed his arms over his chest. No one paid attention to that as they continued.

"And why you have been secretly seeing Aaron for the past few weeks?"

"All of you would freak out, that's why. Besides, I wouldn't have of found those details he told me about his relationship with Lucian and all the things it happens to him.", Aaron blushed deeply, looking away when the rest looked at him. "He cooperated because he wanted to know more about vampire behavior so, we made a deal.", Dyango made himself comfortable on the chair, leaning back against it. "I needed new cases to write more about and we actually met in Acuna, when he wnt to look out for his mate but found instead two angry north gunslingers that tried to capture him. I saved him, we took different paths and then we encounter again close to Sheridan's mansion."

Lucian made his way to the room but didn't say or made his presence clear to everyone. He hid it, resting over the doorframe to listen what Dyango and the rest was saying.

"Like this, we had small and secret meetings to talk about vampire stuff and other things. When you guys decided to came here, we stopped seeing each other for a while.", he was obviously omitting that Aaron had Dark Powers and that he was the one he taught him how to manipulate them. The boy and the rest of the vampires were glad he didn't, otherwise, they didn't know how to tell Ernest about it. "Until he was captured by Oyan and decided to stop trying to talk with him. That's why Dark Shadow came, actually. He wanted to see if Aaron was here."

"The boy told us that you used to be a gunslinger.", said Kay, looking at the unused Solar Gun Dyango had in his belt. He smiled.

"Yes, I used to a little after my parents died. After that, I stayed under the protection of my older brother and mentor, before both of them decided to leave this world.", behind them, Lucian put a hand on his mouth to prevent the laugh to come out. He was really enjoying all the drama Dyango was putting for them and, the best from all was that they were buying it. Some parts were true, others not.

"How did you inherit the vampiric powers you have?", asked Dumas.

"Because I was bitten by a vampire, but the energy that passed to me from my parents prevented my body to be a complete vampire but, due to some circumstances, I had been obliged to awake that vampire half and use it. After so many years… well…", he shrugged, like saying he didn't have choice but to tell the curse to finally take his body.

Before anyone else could ask, Lucian's laughter was filling the room slowly. Everyone turned to see him and Dyango smiled too, knowing what the purple haired man had in mind.

"Now you will say that your Solar Gun is broken, right?", he laughed even more, approaching the man. "Damn, you have become good at this."

"Good at what?", asked Bea. No one in the room understood what was happening, but Aaron did. After what Dyango told him before Oyan captured him and the things he saw in Lucian's head when he controlled him, it was more than clear that Dyango was lying somewhere.

"He wasn't a gunslinger; he was a fucking vampire hunter.", said Lucian. "His parent's did die, at the hands of a crazy Count and at the sister of the man's wife, which were looking for the perfect power to control this word. His brother, on the contrary, didn't die.", Aaron was shocked to hear that, since it was the same he heard from Nero and Toasty when he decided to leave the Mansion. "He was taken by their aunt as a living experiment with Dark Matter. This boy held in his veins the power of the Sun and the Moon together thanks to his parents, each one of the Solar and Lunar tribe respectably.", he grabbed Dyango's Solar Gun and admired it, caressing it softly like remembering how it felt to have one of those in his fingers. "And that fucking bitch wanted those powers and used Dark Matter to control the boy and do whatever she pleased and that included fighting his younger brother, who didn't know he had a sibling until he had to fight her."

"How do you know all this stuff?", said Nish, really surprised.

"Because this, bloody, fucking bastard it's nothing more and nothing less that my annoying, bloody fucking little brother.", everyone gasped. "And his name isn't Dyango, mind you, it's Django.", Aaron stood up and Lucian grinned. "Yes, he is the warrior that used to fight besides your father, my child, the warrior that taught everything he knew, the one that tried to fight Ratatosk and ended up in that prison…", he turned to face the blonde man. "…all alone. Poor, poor little Dj…"

"Can I now tell your story, seeing that you summed mine pretty much?", teased the young man but the hard hit he received from Lucian told him that he didn't like the idea at all. "Fuck, when are you going to stop hitting me, you fucking sadist?!"

"When you learn to close your damn mouth!", he growled.

"But I deserve to know.", came the voice from Aaron. Lucian turned around and looked at him. The boy was standing still, hands into fist, frowning. "And if you aren't going to speak, then I will rather hearing it from your own, annoying, bloody fucking little brother."

Lucian had to admit he was in a huge problem, because he really didn't want to say anything about his past at all. But after all what happened, he sighed, sitting next to Dark Shadow.

"After I finish telling everything, I want to ask how the hell Dainn ended up with you.", said to Dyango.

"It's easy, actually. When father sealed Jormungandr in Spiral Tower, his soul was bonded with little Nero, who was the only visit I got in that prison. I let him bond with me and soon, he got his body back.", explained the young man.

"No wonder you have changed so much…", Dyango grinned and Lucian, nervous, looked at his mate. "What do you want to know?"

"All.", said Aaron. He took his chair and put it in front of Lucian. "I want to hear it all."

"Do I---?"

"I said all!", shouted, startling everyone in the room except Lucian.

"Yes, my child.", came the submissive response from the vampire. "As I stated before, our parents were from two different tribes. Django inherited more of the Solar Tribe, like father, and I did more from the Lunar Tribe, like mother. There was a little inconvenient with that; the Solar tribe was a mortal tribe, it was just humans chosen to control the Sun's powers and they could die anytime. On the contrary, the Lunar Tribe was consisted in Immortals, people that looked like humans but that wields the power of the Moon and could life forever, much like vampires nowadays."

"That union of our parents seemed to make our aunt, our mother's older sister, very mad. It shouldn't of happen since they were so different, yet so in love. They didn't care what the other's said, but Hel, our aunt, wasn't going to sit and watch, no. As soon as I was born, she decided to 'take care' of me. Our parent's couldn't do much and I had to stay with her, growing up with her and suffering from her experiments with the Dark Matter. My body naturally rejects it, but it reached a point in where I couldn't reject it anymore. The little solar grace I had died when the Dark Matter transformed my young body and turned it into a dhampir, a half vampire. At that time it wasn't that… concentrated, but with the years, it took the form of the well known and feared curse."

"I hated Django since I have memory. I always hated him, I still hate him from all the things he had, and from the things he didn't go through like me.", Lucian sighed, looking at the floor and then to his mate, who was carefully listening. "Then, Hel kidnapped her sister and sent the Count of Groundsoaking Blood to fight with father. He managed to kill him and transform him into a vampire, while he was still healing into the Blood Mansion, back in the old Istrakan."

"It was then when Django and I crossed path. I was Hel's right hand, and had under my direct order two guardians and two vampires; Garmr, the Snow wolf, Muspellheim, the Fire Golem, the same Count and Carmilla, the Crying Banshee.", Dumas' almost fainted if it wasn't for Nish who was just besides him to catch him.

"Was… that Carmilla…?", managed to say but Lucian cut him off.

"Let me continue.", he bit his bottom lip and felt Aaron's hands on his. Lucian smiled and kissed them. "Carmilla and I were very close since the beginning, I was hoping to kill Hel and release both of us from her grips and… live, you know. Both of us really hated being with her but… in order to access to the Dark Castle, up there in the space, Django had to kill her to break the seal.", he sighed again, taking a deep breath this time. "I was furious. Really, really mad. But I couldn't do much but save her soul inside my body, and wait. We defeated Hel, we managed to free Istrakan from her hands and then, we moved onto San Miguel, the city of the Sun, the city in where humans lived."

"There we met our deceased father, who was turned into a vampire thanks to the Count. I still couldn't get under the Sun thanks to the Dark Matter in my body, and I couldn't find a way to get rid of it either. Django and I took different paths but got reunited again in the Ruins, of which I heard they could bring souls from dead.", he smiled. "Yeah, I tried to revive Carmilla using the Remains but… all in vain as I had to help, yet again, my useless younger brother who was bitten by our own father and turned into a vampire. Dainn, this vampire…", he pointed to Dark Shadow. "… was our main target, seeing he wanted to revive Jormungandr to destroy all humans and living things, much like Hel wanted to do. Once more, we defeated him and put the Great Snake to sleep again."

"Then it was Ratatosk…", Lucian shivered. "As you all know, Vanargandr is the Beast of Destruction and, whoever possess it, will have a huge amount of power and that was what Ratatosk wanted; power, much like myself.", he laughed. "That man could only control you if there was Dark Matter in the body with his needles, but he needed the Blood of the Moon Beauty (that's how they were called the great priest and priestess of the Moon in my long, extinct tribe) to revive it and who better than me to do it. Of course, I would refuse to do it and so, he decided to control me and bring me to Mahoroba, the place were my mother used to live and where Vanargandr was sealed. In the end, I couldn't do much as I was under his spell; I woke up the Beast, I sealed Django into that prison and stayed with Ratatosk as his fucking test toy to see if he could duplicate the Lunar energy to bring out his original form, much like Stoker did to Dumas."

"Why?", asked Ernest.

"Some vampires have a hard time returning to their original form, which is the shape their energy takes in their primal base. Normally, it's always animal shaped, but it can vary from there. For example Nish is somehow an Icy lizard.", said Lucian, receiving a nod from the albino vampire. "I honestly don't know what I am; maybe some kind of demon, Dumas is something related to a feather bird with sharp talons, maybe a harpy, and then you can imagine what could be the other's.", Lucian tangled his fingers with Aaron's, seeing the boy smile. "What Lunar energy does is to oblige that original form to come out without effort. Ratatosk knew that, in any moment, I could break from his spell and use Vanargandr against him, seeing that by now I was bonded in soul with that beast. He was looking for a way he could match my power and still control me. Since I was being controlled and was fusing my soul with that beast, Carmilla's soul couldn't live in my body any longer and disappeared forever. That time, she finally died because of me."

"Then, Dumas came. He was a very good looking human that was captured by Hresvelgr, a damn parrot that I hated with all my guts. Since Ratatosk needed soldiers, he turned everyone in that party into vampires, and Dumas resulted to be a man known by his high intelligence and strategies in the battlefield, his fucking temper and quiet foul language.", the horned man chuckled at that. That comment made him remembers the good times he spent serving Ratatosk. "He was always picking a fight, I tell you. If it wasn't with Nidhoggr, it was with the Count, with Hresvelgr or even with Ratatosk.", he stroked Aaron's hands and resisted the urge to kiss them again. His body was slowly telling him that soon he had to feed. "Trinity was making progress rather quickly. After twenty years, he was gathering people to fight and founded the local Guild here. Five years later, he broke in the Vambery to rescue the people there. Honestly, I didn't know if that was a miracle or what, but I was there at the time he came and when he looked at me, he recognized me immediately as Django's older brother. I knew who he was, but never knew he would help me."

"Trinity took me back to the Guild and there I stayed. At that time I had a really long hair since Ratatosk forbade me to cut it so he could always pull it to torture me, but once free from his grasp, I cut it like you see here.", he run a hand into his hair and then he put it on Aaron's head, petting it. The boy blushed lightly, smiling. "Now, we only needed to get rid of the needles inside my body, most of them were already gone thanks that Nidhoggr helped me, and he called a girl I never thought I would see again."

"Ella.", whispered Ernest between his lips. Lucian nodded.

"She was… Carmilla. I mean, she had the same face, the same color of eyes, the same beauty spot in the same place!", he laughed. "I thought life was giving me a second chance so I took it and I started to talk with her to see if that reincarnation remembered its past life. I hoped so, but then I lost hope and decided to start over.", he laughed again, remembering. "When I came to the Guild… Aaron was about… a year or two years old, I think. No, I'm lying…", he made a mental sum in his head and grinned. "Damn, you had like… five years old actually, and you were a mass of energy running from here to there. Yeah… I can't believe it now, you know.", he told Aaron.

"I wonder why I don't remember you, then.", said the boy.

"Well… I didn't help Trinity in raising you, actually, since he didn't want me to. He raised you alone, with some help of Ella, but no one else, not even me.", he smiled and put his forehead against Aaron's, rubbing their noses together. "I trained with him and got instructed into using the new solar guns from that time. Since I hold Dark Matter in my body, I couldn't use solar guns, the old ones, carried by the Solar Boys since it uses direct Sunlight and I would burn my hand. Instead, I used the counterpart of it, Gun del Hell, which used Dark Energy. I was happy those didn't and I learned pretty quickly, noticing that I loved Bomber and Witch, even though I mastered them all in about a month.", he looked at Ernest and Kay. "Then, those assholes came."

"Hey!", came the tanned man's reply, but with a huge grin on his face.

"Ernest was a very strong man and capable of enduring rough fights so Trinity decided to stick up with him and leave to me the rest of the missions. I trained Kay myself…", he grinned. "Quiet an experience, right?"

"Shut up.", came his reply. "Bloody sadist… I was lucky I survived your 'training'."

Aaron laughed, remembering what Kay told him.

"Since Ratatosk lost me, his power was slowly decreasing. He had Vanargandr's body and still had some of his power, but ninety percent of it was with me, inside my body.", he touched his chest with his right hand. "It was obvious he was going to lose if the Gunslingers ever tried to go into battle with him, yet he didn't know that the one going to kill him was going to be Dumas.", said man moved his body in a nervous way. Nish hugged his waist with both arms and rested his head over his. "I still remember when Trinity and I fought Ratatosk. I never had so much rage built inside me. I really hated him and to see that I was going to finally kill him made me very happy.", he took a deep breath and caressed Aaron's hands. "I had to separate from Trinity as Dumas wanted to fight me but, having the Casket Armor and Perrault as a Terrennial, it was hard even for me to defeat him, and he ended up injuring me severely, while Ratatosk was in the same condition with Trinity. Dumas took the chance and killed them both.", again, the horned man shrunk in his place, really ashamed of his old self.

"What about Nero?", asked Bea. "He is Perrault's other half but, how did he slip from her?"

"Well, that's easy. While being in the Guild, Trinity used old seals to restrain my Dark Matter and adopt a more… human appearance. That's why when you guys knew me as Sartana, I had brown eyes, but they had been always red. I could go under the Sun and such but, when Dumas 'killed' me, those seals broke and the Dark Matter started to spread yet again. My right eye became red, I lost color in my skin and all my senses were becoming sharper.", though he was looking to Aaron, the boy knew he was lost in his memories. "Both of my energies, the Lunar and the Dark, were too strong for Perrault to bear when I fought Dumas, and my own powers were the ones that called Nero from her, creating the Terrennial of Darkness. Being part of the shadows, Nero is bonded to my body and soul and, if I ever want to, I can make him return to Perrault's body or make him disappear inside mines."

"I left the battlefield. Everything was done. I found refuge in Acuna and Nero found a prototype of Casket Armor, the same I'm wearing now, to protect my now sensible skin from the Sun and Solar guns, and the eye patch, which controlled my Dark Powers. Then I met Alice and she was kindly enough to help me out. We found the sword in the Moon, in the old Mahoroba, and then we found the others in the old Aqueduc and in the underground city of the Hunting Mansion. It appears that Ratatosk, before dying, sealed Vanargandr's body into the sword and hid it in the Moon, doing the same with the Great Snake Jormungandr, which is sealed in the lance, and with the remains of Hel, sealed in the scythe.", he smiled. "I bet he didn't want anyone but him to have power. Such a loser…", he laughed. "Then, you know the rest of the story. Seven years later and all that jazz."

"Why Froggy called you Saturday?", asked Dumas. Lucian tensed visibly, like he did when Oyan asked a similar question back in the Guild. "He used to put nicknames to everyone in the castle, and yours, surely, means that, Saturday, the Moon's day."

"It should be easy to figure it out, then.", answered Lucian. "If Sunday, _Solis_ in the old language, it's the Sun's day, then…"

"_Shabat."_, whispered Nish. "In old cultures, the Moon was first to be adored and the _shabat, _Saturday, was the sacred day in where no one worked and went to the shrine to pay their respects to the Moon. Then, the Sun came and the _shabat_ wasn't important anymore. The _solis_ became the sacred day to respect the Sun.", the albino looked at Lucian. "A modern way of spelling _shabat _is either _Sabato _or _Sabata._"

"My… real name is Sabata.", answered Lucian. "After… all what happened I choose to do a new life again and again, and changed my name again and again but…", he sighed, looking at his mate. "There you have it. All my past, even you got my real name."

"Sabata…", whispered Aaron, letting the name roll out of his tongue. "Sabata, Sartana, Lucian…", he shook his head and stood up. "Who are you?", asked before walking out of the room, leaving him behind.

Lucian lowered his head, watching the empty chair. Dyango put an arm around his brother's shoulders and patted them.

"If you are fused with Vanargandr, shouldn't you be able to control it?", asked Ernest after a few minutes of silence.

"I'm not fused with him yet.", answered the man. "The process was interrupted thanks to Ratatosk's needles but now they're gone, Vanargandr is finalizing what he started thirty years ago. Once the Dark Matter finished corrupting my body, it awoke the violent and aggressive behavior of the Beast, that I showed from being fused with it.", he stood up. "There is still one needle inside my body, according to Nidhoggr. Because of that needle, all of you are still alive…"

Lucian left the room without saying anything else. The tanned man looked at Dyango.

"How so?"

"The only purpose of Varnargandr, the only thing it was created was to destroy.", said the young man. "To destroy the living things of this planet, to drown it in darkness and despair… That single needle that is still inside Saba---I mean Lucian, prevents Vanargandr to go completely berserk and kill everything he sees in his path.", he looked at everyone. "If that needle is taken out from his body…", he sighed. "I really doubt this world will remain as we know it."

Lucian was sitting next to the window. The Moon was covered by thick and black clouds carrying rain in them. He felt terrible, he felt… He never felt this sadness before, not even when Carmilla died twice. The look Aaron gave him after he told him everything made his heart broke in tiny pieces. Did his child reject him? Was he mad about it? Lucian bet so. He would be mad too but, he was like that. He had been always like that. He never trusted anyone, he always worked alone, he hated having 'friends'. Yet, in those years, he had met people, wonderful people that he could call 'friends'. He needed time to adjust to that but he was slowly progressing.

Unable to keep doing nothing, he walked towards his place, where he found Aaron lying over the old mattress. Lucian stood there, watching his small form, curled up, giving his back to him. It was hard for a young boy like him to know such… things from his mate and now, he was slowly digesting them.

"Can I…", started Lucian softly. Aaron turned around to see him and then, returned to his previous pose. "Can I accompany you?", asked.

Aaron only shrugged.

The man took that sign as a 'yes' and approached the boy, lowering himself and then lying behind him, circling his arms around his waist. Aaron didn't say anything to that, he simple let Lucian move. The vampire put his head over the pillow, admiring the boy's neck and ears.

"Are you mad?", asked Lucian after five minutes of silence.

"A bit.", answered Aaron. "I feel like I don't know you anymore."

"I'm sorry.", whispered the man, hugging the boy tighter. "Can you understand why I haven't said anything?"

Aaron sighed.

"Yeah… I understand now.", he turned around and faced Lucian. "I just need some time alone to gather all this."

Lucian smiled.

"Alright.", he kissed him, Aaron answering to the kiss as fierily as he could, slipping his tongue inside. When they broke, the man grinned. "You don't seem that angry…"

"Get lost before I do.", said Aaron, smiling. He received a last kiss from his vampire before he stood up and left.

Lucian wondered in the Hideout before Dyango called him. The man, curious, followed his brother to the common room, currently empty except for Dyango and Dainn. Both of them were sitting on a small table with a black box on it. As he approached, Lucian felt something familiar from it, a strange force. He sat besides Dyango and looked at him, then to the box, and then to Dainn.

"Open it.", ordered the albino.

The vampire did so and gasped at the sight of the old and unused Gun del Hel, with the dark lens carefully placed inside. He took it out, holding it on his hands, feeling the weight of it, caressing it with his thumbs. How long it had been? Thirty years? He sighed, smiling at it.

"Is this some kind of birthday present or something?", he asked, placing the gun into the box again.

"Violet found it and gave it to Old Smith to repair it. It had been with her since then.", explained Dyango. "In two years, in just two, short years, Ratatosk managed to control all Istrakan and San Miguel, and there was nothing I could do. Everyone left except for me. I couldn't… I just couldn't.", he sighed. "Violet gave it to me before she and Old Smith left the city."

"How old is she now?"

"Perhaps around her fifties.", he laughed. "If she hasn't died yet.", he chuckled and Lucian looked at him, frowning. "So, now that you are here, calmed down and everything, can I ask you some questions?"

"…About?", said in a warning tone.

And just then, he was trapped in Dyango's interview of how he behaved around his mate, how he reacted towards the Moon, and a bunch of things more that he couldn't escape and had to answer. He really was angry that his brother decided to ask such intimate question to his young mate, but since Aaron didn't mind, he didn't either.

Lucian didn't know for how long he had been talking, but he sure was getting tired of it. He had never been a patient person, not with his brother, not with Trinity not with Aaron. He growled several times during the interview, hoping Dyango would catch the indirect, though he did, the man didn't stop at all. Instead, he kept doing question over question again and again only to mock his older brother until, reaching Lucian's limit, he stopped.

He wrote down everything he needed for a second volume and Lucian was about to leave when Dyango said he needed to tell him one more thing.

"Make it quick, you are really pissing me off.", said Lucian.

"I wonder when was the last time I didn't.", replied Dyango, making his older brother laugh. "I found a cure, to say at last."

Lucian's eyes widened.

"…What?"

"I found a way to neglect the Dark Matter inside our bodies.", said Dyango, smiling.


	30. Chapter 30

Hey, long time no see. XD Sorry for the lack of update, I completely forgot about it (is ashamed), and I'm having a HUGE writer's block, so yeah…

Anyway, chapter 31 will be delayed… some time. I accidentally overwrote the finished chapter with a copy of chapter 31 that _wasn't_ finished, so now I have to do again the end of the chapter. And since I thought it was all good, I kept going until chapter 34, so now I kinda lack off the inspiration for it. Besides, I'm having a terrible time in thinking how the war stuff's going to come out. I apologize.

Vale-Chan: Well, I already answered and thanked you for the fucking HUGE ASS REVIEW. WOMAN, FUCK ;w; I can't find words to thank you enough for it!! *loves*

Lady: Ya like reveals? Then you will like this Oyan-centered-chapter. XD I don't know you guys, but I kinda like Oyan even if he is the main antagonist.

See ya next time and enjoy the chapter!!

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30

Oyan was furious. Absolutely furious. He kicked the chair and the desk, he punched the wall with all his force, he growled under his breath and finally, he sat down on the abused chair. He let out a deep, angry sigh come from his throat as he whined in pain from his injuries, already bandaged up. So many things went so wrong that night. First of all, he lost countless of soldiers and now, his group had decreased to less than a few two-hundred men, including all of Cyryl's werewolves.

No one saw it coming. No one knew the spy would turn his back to them. No one except Cyryl. Cyryl had a feeling that, after what the Wind Terrennial told him, the vampire boy would do something about it. But it was pointless telling Oyan about it now, especially that he is so frustrated and angry. The werewolf had to let the human calm down a bit and let his brain think, though he doubt Oyan would actually think the spy was a vampire.

The rest of the soldiers didn't know what to do anymore. Their leader was failing at this, back in the North Lands the number of remaining gunslingers wasn't enough to bring to the East Lands to keep fighting, they were already a very low number of people, the vampires gained Lucian back and the spy turned his back to them. They were injured and in a very bad shape, and only fifty of them were still healthy. Was their leader going to trash them like he always does? Were they going to return to their home to rest, finally? Some of them doubt it; some of them knew they were going to stay until they were all killed.

Oyan received the morning after a call from his second, who was in the North Lands keeping the undead waves under control, begging for his leader to return that, after so much time and so much effort, it was wise to retreat in a moment like this. He couldn't win like that, he couldn't do much with those men there and it was safer that he and the rest returns. But Oyan hanged up on him and didn't answer the next call he received from him. He was going to keep fighting until the end, because a fight it's until one of them dies, and it was exactly what Oyan was going to do.

"I'm sorry for bringing so much troubles to you, Cyryl.", said the auburn man when the werewolf needed to speak with him. From the two hundred of werewolves he brought only fifty of them remained. The rest, were killed.

"I decided to help so, don't worry about it.", answered the man.

"I might sound crazy, but I'm staying. I'm not letting those bastards win this fight."

Cyryl didn't know if he was too sure anymore in keeping up with Oyan. After he met with Lucian, he had felt strange. There was something around that man that made Cyryl's senses go into an alert mode. He didn't know what it was, he didn't know if it was Lucian at all but that feeling wouldn't go away until now. Now that Lucian was gone, he felt more relaxed, as if a huge weight on his shoulder suddenly disappeared.

"Recher is still alive, but very injured so my closest guess is that he is not going to fight again.", said Oyan, more to himself than to Cyryl. "I think I will be fine with the rest of the guys. We have to end it in the next fight or everything's going to be lost."

Cyryl didn't say anything.

That afternoon Oyan disappeared from the Guild, bringing his solar weapons with him as he walked in the forest, further than Acuna and the frontier. It was getting windier where he was, but the man didn't mind. The small, dust whirlwinds danced around him before fading away, and some lizards run away from his huge walking form. Oyan looked around, and all he saw was sand and a huge desert in front of him. He sighed, turning to the left and walking straight. He still had a card under his sleeve. There is… this strange priest, this self called priest that had lived for centuries and called himself a descendant from the extinct Lunar Tribe. Oyan never believed that rumor but he did believed the magic he possessed and how well he controlled it. Several times before that man gave suggestions to Oyan and some predictions that turned out true. That man was the last thing he had to win this war.

He lived a few miles away from Acuna's frontier, in a little swamp surrounded by the trees, all dark. The Sun barely lighted the place there and it was really creepy going there by night, but Oyan was already used to it. When he was a kid, years before his father and grandfather died, his mother used to come there to talk with him. Oyan used to come also with his childhood best friend, Hindi, a little vampire boy, son of one of his mother's cousins. They were really close friends and the man of the swamp, as they often called him, always taught them astrology each time they came and how to use a telescope.

The auburn man sighed. Those where memories he rather not have, because of the pain he felt in his heart each time he remembered. He remembered the sad look on Hindi's face when he turned his back and went to the local Guild to become a gunslinger and the expression of fear, rage and sadness he had when Oyan kicked his family out, almost a decade later. But he didn't kicked them out because, no. Oyan still cared for Hindi and didn't want anything to happen to him. He just… forced him to leave for his own good as he stayed in the North Lands, becoming the leader of the north Guild and declaring war to the vampires that didn't leave. All of them died at his hands, but at last the only person he cared truly for was safe, angry at him but safe.

He finally reached the swamp and now he was looking up for the small and old house of the man, looking around, trusting his memory as his legs lead the way. He came across with a huge tree which's thin branches twisted at certain height and then came down towards the water. The small leaves gave to it a more melancholy look, as if the tree was crying. Oyan stopped, admiring the beauty of the tree. It was a Peking Willow, one of the oldest in the swamp, and it was as Oyan remembered it from his childhood. But he didn't stop to drown in his memories. He sighed and kept walking forwards, until meeting the small lake. The waters were green and he saw a few fishes swimming under the surface. There were some other creatures under the water but, overall, it was calm. He then saw the little house near it, with its windows covered except from one, which was on the second floor of it. From it, a yellow light was seen and Oyan knew the man was in home and, probably, working on his stellar maps he always loved to do.

When he stopped in front of the door, he pushed it lightly instead of knocking. If there was something that man hated was to be interrupted from his work. Because of that, he always left the door open and, only when he felt like to, he decided to attend his guests. Oyan was used to that too so, he took seat in one of the chairs from the lower floor and waited.

There were rolled up maps inside long tubes of wood, others were still open over the table he was sitting now. He also noticed a few pens over the table, the floor and on the stairs which lead the way to the second floor. Living on his own, the man didn't need a lot of furniture; only a table with a few chairs, a bed and a small kitchen. Then he had huge bookshelves filled not only with books and maps, but also with lots of jars with different ingredients and with finished potions inside. Oyan remembered he used to play 'guess what is inside' with Hindi while they waited for the man to appear. They never touched anything; they never opened any of those jars. They simple stared, watching amazed the different sizes of the jars and the ingredients, some of them making the two little boys scared.

"It's been a long time, Betelgeuse.", said a soft but potent male voice. "I thought I wouldn't see you again."

The man that walked down the stairs was dressed in black robes, making his extremely pale skin bright in the dark clothes. He had a very long and combed white hair, which was tied up enough to prevent the small bangs to come to his face. He was barefoot; he had long claws, bright red eyes and small fangs. Sashi smiled to him as he sat down in front of him. Sashi was a very rare race; he somehow was a relative to vampire's family, but he didn't drink blood. He couldn't go outside during the day, but he didn't burn to ashes if he walked under the Sun. He often said he was the only descendent from the Lunar Tribe after the last war erupted, and he was the only one that knew about their culture. Oyan knew about Mahoroba, Vanargandr's sealing and everything else from the Lunar Tribe thanks to Sashi. There were a few things the man knew about the Solar Tribe, but they were trivial compared to what he knew about the Lunar one.

Oyan knew now why he didn't mind Lucian calling him Betelgeuse. He had forgotten who had given him that nickname.

"I can see you are very stressed.", said Sashi, putting his hands over his lap. "Something happened in your last battle."

Oyan smiled. Sashi's predictions were always right. The stars might have told him what has been going on since that day ten years ago.

"Hindi often visits me, too.", declared the albino man, moving his hands and making the kettle stood over the fire of the little kitchen. "He didn't have any news since you made him leave, and he is very worried about you."

"He knows he doesn't have to.", answered the man.

"You can't help it if we are talking about Hindi.", said Sashi, moving his hands again and making two small and pretty teacups come from the little sink. "I assured him you were alright, but it wasn't enough for him."

The auburn man sighed.

"You told him where I was, didn't you?", Sashi nodded, and Oyan sighed deeply.

"I know I shouldn't, but Hindi's still your friend and you have to go and talk with him someday."

"I can't, not after what I did ten years ago in our home.", said Oyan as he avoided Sashi's gaze.

"He understands why you did it, he just wants to see you once more before y---", Sashi suddenly felt silent and Oyan looked at him. The albino man sighed, gripping his robes. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have of tell you that."

"I know I might die in this one. I'm not a fool."

"But you are stubborn, and that's worst than being a fool."

Oyan laughed softly and Sashi smiled.

"What you came for?", the kettle floated in the air and went to the teacups, having already a small teabag in them. The hot water was poured in both of them and then they stayed there.

"You know there is this vampire… Lucian.", Sashi nodded as he brings the teacups with his magic, the teabags already ditched from them. They landed in front of them as the sugar pot and the two, small spoons came along. "I need a way to… not kill him, because I know it's going to be extremely hard to do, but a way to stop him the necessary time for me and my soldiers to act."

"Even if you stop Lucian, there is still Dumas, the ice vampire, the little gunslinger boy, Ernest, Kay, Bea, the Casket Armors, your spy…", he took a sip from his tea, feeling its strong taste. "Even if Lucian is the strongest there, it doesn't mean that by stopping him, you will win. If you want to win, you have to stop all of them. Or at last most of them."

Oyan sighed yet again.

Sashi finished his tea while Oyan just started it, and stood up and went to the shelves filled with jars, looking over them. He took one that had what it looked like teeth or fangs, then, he took two white feathers from another. Next, he took three small, black orbs, a strange purple stone, a single green scale, what it seemed to be a black horn and some silver stuff that, when Oyan asked, Sashi smiled.

"From time to time I go to Mahoroba and collect this silver dust that is nothing more than the leftovers of the fallen stars.", he put all the ingredients on a silver plate and went to the stairs. "The dust always falls on the statues so it's very easy to pick it up."

Then, he disappeared in the second floor. Oyan stood up and followed, knowing that it was what Sashi wanted him to do. The observatory room was a mess as always. Papers all over the floor, unfinished maps of the night sky, sketches of how the Moon is seen from the planet, among other notes on those papers. There was a black and old telescope pointing outside, currently covered with a white sheet. Then, there was this boiling pot in where Sashi put one by one the ingredients, while pouring some water too. Then he left them boil as he returned to his previous works on the maps.

Oyan sat on the chair, waiting. He knew he didn't have to interrupt Sashi or the consequences are going to be very bad for him. So he simple stood there, watching him scribble, write or draw down on the large pieces of papers over the large table.

He was still surprised to herd that Hindi was still coming to see Sashi. He had thought that his friend went to another country, to another land, a place where he wouldn't see him again. If Hindi still visits Sashi it means he is not so far from what he actually thought of. Unless he is actually far away and still comes because it's the only thing that, from his childhood, didn't change at all. Oyan really, really wanted to see him again, but he knew he couldn't. He was scared of what Hindi will say or do if he ever sees him again, especially after twenty or more years. Deep inside, he wanted to see him one more time before, as Sashi predicted, he died. He wanted to tell him he was sorry for kicking him out like that, for not letting him defend himself from his men like a real vampire should. Oyan wanted the best for his only friend, but he knew that he made it worst.

Hindi used to be a very shy boy. When they first met, when they were around five years old, the vampire boy didn't want to leave his father's side even when he was told to. Oyan never saw a vampire before, not young or old, and he was a bit scared from them, especially after all the things his father said about them, and felt confused with his mom's words saying completely the opposite of his father. Where vampires good or bad? Should he trust them? His mom told him that some vampires were good, some others were bad, just as humans; some did nice things, some others did bad things.

In the end, they both ended up being very good friends, but Oyan couldn't invite Hindi to his house when his father was too. The last time he did that, the poor vampire boy ended up crying from all the things his father told him. His mom had to bring them to Hindi's house, apologize to Hindi's parents and then leave her son in the lair of the vampires. It didn't make her husband any happier, but at last he was calmer now that he didn't have any vampire in his home.

Just little after being best friends with Hindi, there was a murdered in Hindi's family. Even when the North Lands accepted that vampires and humans lived together, the people inside didn't. It was separated in two inner states, but some vampires lived in the human's side and some humans went to the vampire's side. Hindi's cousin and her husband, a human, and their two children were murdered coldly. The vampire boy was broken; he cried everyday and he wished to be alone after what happened. Oyan had supported him in the investigation and in the funeral; he had been at his side every time and Hindi was very grateful for that. In the end, they found out it has been a vampire hunter just doing its work and they couldn't find a culprit from it, making Hindi's family very depressed.

A year later, when everything was going out good with Hindi, Oyan saw something that, if he hadn't, it wouldn't become in what he is now.

It had been a very hot evening of summer. He had spent the entire day playing with Hindi at his house and it was getting late. Oyan left and run to his house, knowing he was already late for dinner. He was about to come inside when the voice of his mother distracted him from it. She sounded worried and desperate, so Oyan walked barely doing any noise to the alley he had next to his house and, softly, he approached. He hid behind the empty beer barrels that were just there and, carefully moving one of them, he watched, with horror, how his father and grandfather were tied up, gagged and whimpering. His mother was there too, on the floor, crying in begging for their mercy, that they didn't do it because of hatred.

"Oh, come one.", said one of the cloaked figures. Oyan, from the distance, knew it was a vampire like his partner. He just had seen their blue skin. "Wasn't that massacre made out of hatred? Please…"

"We are doing our job, only.", said the second one, bringing out a small dagger from his inner pocket. "As private investigators."

"Please! I'm begging you, please!", his mother cried again. "What's going to do my son without his family?"

"Well, lady, you should have thinking it twice before marring a man like your husband was."

The vampire with the dagger killed his grandfather first, opening his chest with it and letting the blood come out like a waterfall on the ground. The woman cried in horror, trembling from head to toes, staying there, not being able to do anything but watch. Oyan watched too. He was too scared to move, he didn't know what to do. He wanted to help his family, he wanted to make those vampires go away, he wanted, at last, help his father, seeing that his grandfather with such injury wasn't going to live to tell it.

But his small body couldn't move. He was too scared to move, he tried to scream, but his throat didn't produce a sound, not even when the other vampire killed his father and his mother cried again. But, with all that screaming she made, why no one was there to help her? Where was everyone? Where were their neighbors?

"We really didn't want to do it…", said one of the vampires, and Oyan thought why then he did it, as his eyes cried warm and thick tears. "But they left us no choice after what they did…"

What they did? Oyan dried his tears. What could his father and grandfather possible do that deserved their dead? He couldn't think of anything but to kill those vampires. But the only thing he did was to watch them leave, his mother crying over the body of her husband, gripping his clothes and mumbling words and phrases Oyan couldn't decipher.

The child left, and went to the river until night fell. Once he returned home, he told her mother he was going to list in the local Guild.

"What?", she said, horrifying. "No! Absolutely not!"

"Why not?", asked Oyan, surprised that his mother was… well, not proud but at last something close to it, like happy or so. After all, her husband was killed by vampires, wasn't he? "I want to!", said the little boy. He couldn't keep seeing vampires as friends anymore, not even Hindi.

"No!", screamed the woman, crying again. "I don't want to lose you too…", sobbed, hugging her son.

But the day after, the first thing he did was to go to the Guild and list, saying he wanted to start as soon as possible.

"What happened to you to suddenly change your mind?", asked Mismo, the leader of the Guild in those times. "Last time I saw you, you were hanging out with the vampire boy Hindi."

"Not anymore.", replied Oyan.

Mismo sighed, thinking how a youth was lost like that.

Come to think of it, Oyan noticed how Mismo wanted him out of the Guild rather than inside, even if he turned out to be one of the best soldiers Mismo ever got. The man was constantly giving him very hard missions or tasks; he even humiliated him in front of others, of his comrades. But Oyan was too determinate, or stubborn, to give up. But all Mismo did was aggravate the problem and turned Oyan in something completely the opposite of what he was, he learned to give a damn about everyone else, he learned to not help anymore, he learned to not care anymore. Mismo knew he lost the struggle with Oyan, so he decided to leave the Guild and, being Oyan the best inside, it was obvious he was going to be voted as next leader. Just two years later, Oyan commanded the hunting in where he killed ninety percent of the vampire population in the Northlands.

He remembered that night clearly. Before going into the actual hunting, he went to Hindi's home to pay him a last visit before starting the massacre. Alfar, Hindi's father, opened the door and stood there, seeing the familiar face.

"…Oyan?", came the man's voice and the auburn man nodded. "Hindi's in his studio.", said as he stood aside to let him in.

"Thank you."

The gunslinger saluted Hindi's mom, Kalina, before going upstairs to find his childhood friend sitting before a desk, examining some documents. He was studying to become a lawyer like his uncle and Oyan was extremely happy when he got the news (around a year ago), but they never talked anymore. After Oyan listed in the Guild, he decided to stop visiting Hindi, but Hindi still came to him, still visited him, still saluted him. The auburn man knew he didn't deserve a friend like him, not at all, not after what he was going to do that same night.

"Hey, Betelgeuse…", came the solemn and cheerful voice of Hindi. Oyan saw his smile, and couldn't help it and smiled too. "You must have something extremely important to tell me if you came here in flesh after that."

Oyan sighed sadly as he didn't accept the seat Hindi was offering.

"Indeed it is, Naos.", answered.

Hindi laughed.

"This is the first time in years you call me like that."

Like with him, Sashi decided to put Hindi a nickname from a star. And, being his hair a beautiful clear, crystal blue, the Lunar priest decided to give him the name of "Naos", a very hot star in the constellation of the Stern. Hottest stars bright in a blue light thus Sashi picking up this name for him.

"I really hate you seeing wearing that uniform.", said Hindi as he stood up, walking to Oyan. "I always wondered what made you change your mind about… well.", he took off his glasses and put them over the desk. He was now taller than Oyan and with a very nice body, strong as most vampires were. His hair was tied up in an almost lose ponytail, with some curly bangs falling in his face. Oyan remembered that, when Hindi was young and when his hair was shorter than it was now, he used to have a very curly hair. "I always felt that I was losing you."

"You might.", came his reply, feasting his hands into fists. He saw how Hindi's eyes widened.

"What are you talking about?"

"Let's say that… because I was promoted to be leader of the Guild…"

Hindi put a hand on his eyes as he put his other arm around his waist.

"You are going into a 'welcome hunting', huh?", Hindi spat the words as if they were some kind of disgusting food or poison.

"Sort of."

"Sort of? Then how the fuck do you call those… murders?!", screamed the vampire, crossing his arms over his chest. "Let me tell you that if your men ever put a single feet in this house, they are going to be slaughtered, have no doubt about it."

"That's why I want you to leave.", said quickly, trembling. He had never been so nervous or scared in his life.

"Excuse me?"

"Tonight I'm not going to have any vampire friends anymore, I'm not going to have any vampire relatives in my family, I'm going to be one with my men, with the humans.", explained to Hindi, who was still in shock after hearing that. "You… You are the only one in this city I truly care for, even if I… choose some paths that were opposing our friendship, I still value it and I don't want anything happen to you or your family."

"You are telling me to run like a coward!!!", screamed once more Hindi. "You are telling me to drop my arms!! I'm a man just like you and I'm going to fight against your men like a real vampire, even if with it I die!"

"No!!", shouted Oyan, startling Hindi with his reaction. The man took his friend's arms and squeezed them into his hands. "I don't want you to! I don't want you to die because of the life I had chosen to live!"

"Then tell me what happened in your life that made you change your heart like this!", demanded the vampire.

Oyan lose up and dropped his arms to his sides, turning around to the door.

"Oyan!", cried Hindi.

"Please, I'm begging you.", whispered the man. "Please, leave. I don't know if I'm going to endure seeing the corpse of my best friend lying on the ground."

"Tell me then. I want to understand what makes you suffer like this.", his eyes dropped a few tears as he reached the auburn man to hug him from behind. "You don't know how hard was to me to see you like this, to feel that you were sinking into a bottomless sea…"

"If I do, will you leave?"

Hindi obliged Oyan to turn around so they were now face to face.

"This is my home, too! This is were I born, where I grow up, where I met you. You can't pretend that I will leave all this behind just because you tell me so!"

"I'm serious this time, Hindi.", whispered again the gunslinger. "We are going into hunting, and we are around a thousand men, even more. Do you honestly think you will be able to survive?", Hindi stood silent. "Promise me you will leave."

"No, I---"

"Promise me.", repeated.

The vampire sighed.

"Thank you.", said Oyan as he smiled. "Remember that murder that happened to your family, where no culprit was found?", the vampire nodded. "A year later, or two (I can't remember), I watched how my father and grandfather were killed in front of my mother.", Hindi tensed up but, reacting quickly, he hugged Oyan. "By the hands of two vampires…", the tears started to came out and Oyan couldn't prevent it. There was so much pain held inside, so much suffering. "And I was there, damn it!!", he screamed, hugging Hindi's back and gripping and pulling his clothes with force and anger. "I was watching… I watched how those two killed my family! And I stood there! Just watching!!", he let out the thicker tears come out as he screamed into Hindi's chest. "I couldn't do anything to save them… I was too scared…", the vampire rubbed his friends back softly, as he heard him. "They said my father and grandfather made something terrible, but I couldn't think of anything and I just thought of revenge… and what better way than listing in the Guild?", he sobbed. "I know that I have betrayed you by doing so but, this pain is so much…"

"I know, I know.", whispered Hindi. "I felt the same when my uncle died. I just wanted to avenge him; I didn't care if it was human or vampire… But you made it easier for me to bear the pain, why didn't you do the same with me? Why didn't you come to me when you felt this pain? I'm your friend after all…", unable to fight it back, Hindi's tears left his eyes too.

"Will you leave?", asked Oyan, changing the subject. Hindi didn't dig further in the matter. Oyan was going to answer that question when he found the answer.

The vampire tightened his grip, sighing into Oyan's neck.

"Take care, please take care.", said Hindi. "Vampires are powerful beings, don't underestimate us or you will be killed, and I don't want you to."

"Don't die either.", said Oyan, digging his fingers into his friend's back. They separated and the auburn man dried his tears with his uniform. "Good bye, Naos."

Hindi smiled.

"See you soon, Betelgeuse."

"Hindi…"

"I will see you soon, Oyan.", Hindi hugged him a last time, and Oyan returned the gesture. "I will keep you in mind and I will look to the sky to see you when I miss you."

"I will too.", Oyan pushed the vampire back and left the room.

A little while after that conversation, Hindi left with his family in secret. He knew he was betraying his kind by doing this, by not letting the others know about such thing, but Hindi made his promise and, before anyone else, came Oyan. He knew his friend lost the path, he knew all he did was just wrong but then it will come the time in where Hindi was going to be able to save his friend, to keep him by his side and to teach him from his mistakes. He just whished the time came sooner.

"Thinking about Naos?", came Sashi's voice. Oyan jumped in his seat, startled. "You miss him so much, don't you?", he man sighed, not answering. "Don't blame yourself for what happened between you two."

"It is my fault after all.", came his reply. "I did choose this life and I did choose to kill his kind even when he was my friend."

"You had your reasons. For Naos, it's enough."

"But not for the other vampires out there. They can't forgive me for what I did. I could easily be someone else if I hadn't seen that!!", shouted, feasting his hands into fists.

"You could have remained like your child self even after seeing that. In that aspect, you are guilty of choosing, because instead of going to your friend, you let yourself tempt by revenge."

"It's too late to undo all what I did."

"But not to begin from scratch.", Oyan lifted his head and was about to add something when Sashi's smile interrupted him. "Ah, there. The bullets are done."

From the now empty pot the priest took out fifteen bullets, all looking the same. They were small, brown and with craved runes on them. He put them into a little leather bag and gave it to Oyan.

"You can use them only in revolvers, since I can't manipulate solar energy, like your guns does.", he sat down in front of his planes. "With a single shot and with a single bullet being inside the bodies of the vampires or the gunslingers it's enough to seal a good portion of their power.", he took again his pencil and pen. "I wish you the best of luck in this battle."

Oyan knew it was time to leave.

"Thank you, Sashi.", he stood up and put the bag into his belt. "And…", Sashi lifted his head. "If… Hindi comes here… tell him I'm sorry, if I… well, if I don't manage to come alive from this fight."

"I will.", said Sashi, giving him a last smile.

It was late now. The Sun already set and it was getting colder, but Oyan kept walking softly, barely looking at his surroundings. The little leather bag was bouncing over his leg each time he did a step, sometimes being annoying. After all those years, he knew all this was only because of a childhood revenge he couldn't fulfill, he didn't even know who were those vampires but, seeing what they did, it was enough for him to have a reson to kill everyone of them. Oyan knew he was being hyprocrit at the same time by letting Hindi and his family free from his hands. Just because it was his friend he let him live. What type of excuse was that? It's like a vampire killing humans for food or fun, but not killing its humans friends because it cared for them. What would its kind think about that? That's why Oyan makes sure that no one knows about Hindi and the friendship he and the vampire shared but the sudden memories of his childhood made him think how Lucian was able to know the nickname Sashi gave to him. How did Lucian know it was 'Betelgeuse'?

Vampires had the ability to look inside their prey's mind, digging into their thoughts and actions, and even being able to manipulate them but, they weren't able to see further than that, meaning that the memories of the past (such as childhood memories and such) were out of their reach. How could Lucian see that? Could it be because he was fused with Vanargandr after his spy stuck the sword in him? Vanargandr was a Beast of who's powers Oyan didn't know and, perhaps, one of them made Lucian able to see the past of his enemies or preys. But he even knew about his father and about his revenge, and the feelings he felt when he stood powerless watching how his father and grandfather died. Oyan turned his head, towards the swamp. Would Sashi know why Lucian knew all this? And if he did, would he tell him? But knowing will make no difference in the fight.

Oyan finally saw, after an hour or so, the Guild hidding behind the forest, feeling like someone was following him, watching him from the darkness. He didn't pay attention to it, but put his right hand on the haunch of his weapon. There was something not right around and it felt like there were some intruders. Before reaching the Guild, he saw that Cyryl was outside with two of his werewolves transformed, growling, looking into different directions. Just then he noticed, over the trees, several black figures from different sizes but with one same characteristic; red, glowing eyes. Oyan's eyes widened. Vampires? Were they the ones with Ernest? No, they couldn't be... Otherwise, they would have attacked already but the type of 'attack' wasn't one Ernest will come with. Something was defenitely not right.

"So, this is the leader, then?", came a male voice from behind him.

Oyan turned around and saw a vampire all covered up with a dark green cape with a hood that covered his head. The only thing he could see was his two red eyes looking directly at him. The auburn man panicked. Was this some kind of trap? Did Cyryl betray him like his spy did? Giving a second look to the werewolves made him think it wasn't that way. If it was, then they wouldn't be reacting that way. But then, what was a vampire with his lair doing in the enemy's territory?

"And who will you be?", asked Oyan, not taking his hand from his weapon.

"I'm Neschume, pleased to meet you, Leader of the North Guild.", said the vampire, bowing his head. "Here I am with my noble lair, wishing to make an offering to you, if you are inclined to listen to it."

"Proceed, then.", said the man.

"We deeply hate humans, we wish to blow them from this world as you want to get rid of my race by creating this battles against us.", started Neschume. "But there is another thing we despite besides humans; dhampirs and vampires or any other night creature that helps humans in their cause, being this one the case.", the vampire took off his robe and Oyan noticed he was wearing a Casket Armor very similar to the ones that Lucian and Dumas have. Neschume tossed it back and the arm, or what it seemed to be an arm, took it before it landed on the floor. "We wish to fight besides you since we have a common enemy here in the East Lands."

"Not possible.", said Oyan. "Since I have no guarantees you and your people will leave alone my men, or if this some kind of trap."

"Wise to think that way, Leader of the North Guild but, what chanses you have to fight against your enemy in such state?", said, before looking at Cyryl, who was restricting his insticts hard. The werewolves really desired nothing more than to rip the vampire's head off. "Not even with the werewolves will you be able to suceed, seeing how strong your opponent had become.", he laughed. "We are merely using you to achieve what we want.", he smiled. "And us, being so many and overpowering you right now, is not wise to reject our offering."

Oyan gripped his teeth. Were they watching their moves and seeing when to make their 'offering'? He looked at Neschume and the rest, even if he couldn't identify them clearly due to the now darkness surrounding him. They were nobles, from the purest vampire blood. No wonder they hate dhampirs and such.

"None of your men will feed from mines, you will not come to me and even suggest it because I will blow your head off.", said Oyan. He had noticed it was useless to escape or to fight against so many enemies. Not even Cyryl could win this one. Even when he still had fifty of his pack, they were heavily injured because of the Casket Armors, as well as the human soldiers. It was not wise to let the vampires in, he just didn't have a choice. Oyan knew this would end pretty bad, at last in his side, but at the same time if both parts did what it was stated in the rules, it could come out well for both of them. Oyan knew that, once the war's over, the nobles will suddenly turn on them and try to kill his men, seeing that the common enemy was no erradicated. "You and your lair will not come into the territory of the Guild and only you will be able to come inside the building to discuss about plans of attack and such.", it was a very, very risky move not only for the vampires, but to Oyan himself. He was letting the enemy freely enter his house and didn't know what were his intentions once he was inside. "If this war leaves us like winners, you and your lair will not chase us until we are back in our North Lands."

"You and your men will not harrass us nor will do anything that implies physical or mentally abuses. I will allow the usual fights and curses that humans and vampires exchanges when they see each other but nothing more.", said Neschume, silently agreeing with Oyan's rules. "If one of my men is killed by one of yours, the contract is over and we will start the quarrel right in that instant.", he laughed softly. "Likewise, none of your men is allowed to come to our lair except you, if you need to discuss anything you want. If the war leaves us winners, your men will be able to freely return to the North Land before we chase you down."

"Anything else?", said Oyan.

"Yes, just one more thing, please."

Cyryl and Oyan looked at each other. Then, to Neschume.

"Split it out."

"I want Lucian alive and kicking.", said the vampire to Oyan's and the werewolf's surprise. "I know he gave you a huge headache, but I want him alive after this ends. But do not worry, I will not personally ask you to capture him, seeing how you failed to held him captive. I will take care of him myself.", he grinned, showing his fangs. "Deal?"

"Deal.", answered Oyan, smiling.


	31. Chapter 31

Fffft, I can't believe I managed to finish it. And just a month alter I uploaded chapter 30. I still dislike/hate the ending. : I find it too… dull. .__.; Dunno, what you think of it guys?

Anyway, thanks to Vale for the ass review again and to DarkPika-Sama for the favorite and the alert. I hope you enjoy this chapter!! See ya!

**WARNING: THIS CHAPTER COINTAINS LUCIANxAARON AT THE END.**

31

"Cure…?", slowly whispered Aaron as he stood by the doorframe, just listening to what Dyango and Lucian had been discussing instants ago. Lucian turned around, seeing the pissed face of his mate.

"Wait!", exclaimed the vampire as he stood up and caught one of Aaron's arm. "Don't assume things so quickly!"

"What do want me to think after hearing that?!", said the boy, breaking free from Lucian's grasp. "You knew there was a cure!"

"I didn't!", replied Lucian, frowning. "Django just told me!"

"You technically _knew_ about it, actually.", said the blonde man. "But didn't know you could use it as, perhaps, a cure.", he tried to explain to calm down the young boy who was about to strangle his lover.

Lucian turned around, but not letting go of Aaron.

"What do you mean?"

"Remember the Pile Driver?", asked with a mischief smile. It was the first time Aaron saw Lucian pale that much in his life.

"Are you fucking crazy?", yelled, letting go of Aaron for once. "That thing will kill me!!"

"What are you talking about?", said the boy, looking at both men.

Dyango pointed the chairs and Lucian, grumpily, sat as Aaron took seat in the one next to him.

"The Pile Driver is a mechanism I used when I was still a hunter, used to purify the Dark Matter from vampires. Once the Dark Matter is purified the vampire will die and, unless there is a tiny left over of it, can't return to life.", the man started, caressing the surface of the Dark Gun of his older brother. "That device was once used on me, when our vampire father bit me. Saba… I mean, Lucian, had to drag me all over the dungeon towards the plaza, in where the Pile Driver was waiting. Since it only works with sunlight, the only time to use it is during the day. Most of the Dark Matter inside me vanished, but Lucian fainted before it could finish.", Dyango sighed. "Then, I purified my brother. I tried to erase his Dark Matter to prevent Ratatosk from using him at all, but he ended up near dead. For Ratatosk, it was easier then to control him."

"Under the circumstances both Django and I are…", said Lucian. "Meaning that we are easily ninety percent vampire, with huge amounts of Dark Matter, the use of the Pile Driver will undoubtedly kill us. There is, however, a small chance of surviving and, in the process, getting rid of the Dark Matter from our bodies, but only if we call back our natural energy to protect us. Right now, that energy is below the two percent of usage, meaning that it's actually impossible for us to use it in the form we are now.", Lucian closed the box and slide it towards himself. "Ninety percent of chances to die against ten percent of surviving.", he snorted. "Personally, I don't really want to experience that again, even less when I have so small chances of getting alive from it."

"Then, I can't really think of other way of doing it.", said Dyango, sighing. "It's the Pile Driver or nothing. Unless Sheridan or that crazy Stoker comes up with something, you and I are going to be vampires for the rest of our lives.", finished with a fanged smile.

Dyango and Dainn left them there, returning to the small spot Ernest gave them as their resting place. Aaron looked at Lucian, who was thinking about what they just discussed. If there was no cure other than that, then the vampire isn't, like he said, going to use it and not going to try or even think in turning Aaron without the possibility of curing him. Lucian realizes that the more Dark Matter he pours in Aaron each time he bites him and drinks his blood, the more Aaron will become into a vampire. Even when the dosage is small, it still has a huge reaction in his human body. He might have not noticed but he already had far more strength than a boy at his age and that his senses are slowly becoming sharper.

"What are you going to do?", asked Aaron.

Lucian was quiet shocked at his question, actually. The vampire looked at him and sighed.

"I have the desire to become what I was once, but I'm terrible scared of dying in the process.", that was the first time the boy saw despair in Lucian's eyes. He was struggling between his unique dream, and the safety of his mate. If Aaron is accidentally turned into a vampire, be it by Lucian or another, Lucian didn't have the will to put his mate under the torture it was to be closed in a coffin, receiving direct sunlight without being able to block it in anyway and the intense pain one endures under inside. He just couldn't do it. "I can't let you either experience that horrible… torture."

"Then what are you going to do?", asked again.

"I honestly don't know.", sighed Lucian, biting on his right index finger. "I don't know…"

Later then, Lucian told Aaron he needed some time alone and the boy granted it, seeing he needed it too. The boy could understand some of the feelings his vampire was getting in the moment, yet he couldn't fully understand why he just didn't want to turn him into a vampire.

Aaron found Toasty lying over a mattress hanging out with Perrault. The Light Terrennial was in his normal human form right now; he was visible taller than the other Terrennials, probably reaching Alexander's height. He had long, light blond hair that was tied up with a golden bracelet with a red gem over it. He had some short bangs that falls on his face, just playing with his purple eyes. Toasty wore white and clean pants, with one black band near the ankles on each leg, and a brown coat with long sleeves. Over the cloth that hanged between his body, there was a sun shaped pattern and, over the sleeves, curled patters in yellow. Both of them were chatting quietly, more especially of Dumas and how he had changed over the years and how Perrault could second it. Toasty was in his small steps in trusting back the vampires and not seeing them like Oyan and his men did.

Toasty noticed the boy standing there and stood up, saying he would keep talking with Perrault later. The female Terrennial giggled and let the Light Terrennial go outside with Aaron, where the boy wanted to go right now. After taking his Knight and Lucian's jacket, both of them went stairs up, reaching a really small cottage. There wasn't anything in there except a few locked boxes that contained supplies, weapons, sheets and other things. Toasty closed the scuttle behind them, hiding it with an old carpet before going outside. It was a clear but lightly cold night. Aaron tugged the collar of the jacket against his chest before proceeding into the forest.

"Doesn't Lucian mind about that?", asked Toasty when they reached the lake where they hid Nidhoggr's machine. Being it a colossal size it was out of the question bringing it down to the Hideout while the vampire boy was held captive, so they choose submerging it in the lake and covering it with some seaweeds. It was enough to make it disappear for a little while.

"The jacket?", said Aaron. He spotted a clear with some rocks and decided to stand there. "If he did, then he would have snatched it back as soon as he noticed it. You know he is quiet possessive about his belongings."

Toasty had no argument about that.

"Besides…", mumbled the boy when he sat on the rock. "It has Lucian's smell in it.", he shrunk in it, smiling.

The bright and white Moon was there, covered with random clouds on the sky as a soft and cold breeze blew. Aaron noticed how the Full Moon phase was slowly disappearing, as well as the mating cycle for vampires. It was, in truth, a miracle that Lucian didn't want to take him after he was in the Hideout again, being him so impulsive. Aaron knew that when people are sexually frustrated or repressed they tend to be extremely aggressive but Lucian was behaving quiet well, actually. He even forgot (at last Aaron guessed) to drink his blood. Was he going to be all right? He knew blood was vital for vampires but then again, Lucian was very different from common vampires such as Nish and Dumas.

"Something bothering you?", asked Toasty when he noticed Aaron's intense gaze upon the Moon.

"Sort of."

"What it is?", said as he moved closer to the boy, ruffling his hair in a tender way.

"About Lucian."

"Oh…", Toasty, instead of admiring the stars like Aaron, he lock his gaze in the mirror surface of the lake, which was reflecting the stars and the Moon. "Is this related to his past?"

"Yeah…", softly answered. "He actually told me, and to Ernest and the others too, his past. And right now I was just thinking how different Lucian is from other vampires."

"Well, except not having the usual blue skin, he does behave like normal vampires.", said the Terrennial, not quiet understanding the "difference" between Lucian and other vampires.

"There are other facts…", mumbled. "In all honestly, vampires are quiet cowards when their life is in risk, much like humans are. They trick a lot, they cheat, they hide in the shadows, and they play mental games with humans or other of their kind or creature. Lucian just goes straight up and, with his sword, he just cuts them in half. He summons the beasts within each weapon and fights with his fists. He doesn't lurk in the shadows, he doesn't cheat when fighting, he doesn't bring up surprise elements to attack. Tell me, Toasty, how many vampires had you encountered that actually acts like Lucian?"

The Terrennial felt silent.

The boy had a point there, but it wasn't really a good excuse to say that Lucian _was _different from other vampires. Morphing his body by the usage of his sword wasn't either a good reason; most vampires could do it without the use of objects. It's true that they were mostly cowards, but they could fight like warriors when defending something that is precious to them. In those cases Toasty didn't know why Aaron brings up those things seeing that, to him, hadn't much a point.

"But it really bugs me…", then said the boy.

"To not know what the hell Lucian is?", both of them laughed out loud, but Toasty was right. Aaron didn't know what to call Lucian anymore. "As long as he loves you, then it's all right. As long as he cares you, as long as he protects you then, to me, it's all right."

Aaron smiled, agreeing silently to that statement.

"Do you think we have a chance to win?", asked, completely changing the subject.

Toasty thought about it deeply before answering.

"Well, we all have a chance to win, even Oyan, if we know how to play our cards.", answered. "Most of our success came by the fact that Oyan not only underestimated us, but he completely missed that his spy was indeed a vampire. Yet if you and Lucian weren't captured, then the spy wouldn't have turned against Oyan like he did. If that didn't happen, I don't know where would be right now.", Toasty let the boy rest on his body as Aaron stared at the sky. "I think Oyan felt that something was going to happen and hired the werewolves that gave him some sort of advantage against us, but was fool enough to think that we were harmless against them. He surely got a big surprise when we counterattacked the werewolves with the silver covered weapons. It was a wise move of Dumas to retreat the instant he knew about the werewolves. Otherwise, we would have lost plenty of vampires and humans and right now we would be extremely under numbered. Since Dumas was able to come back, he was the only one to think about the Casket Armors his former servants used.", he took another breath. "Even if Dumas died, someone would mention the Casket Armors, Ursula would suggest reviving them and then using them, but I don't know if it would have passed in the same way it did. Upon all that, I say that Oyan is in a struggle, low in men and possibly is thinking in retreating or just die fighting."

"So, it's a fifty-fifty situation…"

"Yes."

Aaron lowered his gaze to the lake. Dumas might play dumb sometimes, but he was actually very intelligent and intuitive. And Toasty was right; if Dumas died, who would have suggested using the Casket Armors? Not even Aaron had thought of using them. He actually admired the vampire now, in oppose to what Aaron was right now; still a brat that worked on impulses but, then again, Lucian was having good results from those same impulses. What was different between Lucian and himself? If both worked on impulses, why they had different results? The boy didn't get it. Each time he fought, he ended up in problems and it was Lucian, Ernest or Kay who came to aid. What did those men that he didn't? Could it be his lack of strength? No, he was strong enough to kick the guts out of Ernest thanks to the training he received since little. Stealth tactics? No, he just had the master around that subject. Emotions? Well, everyone had emotions while battling that weren't necessary the thought of coming back home.

Aaron stopped to think about that. Emotions… Oyan said emotions were useless in battle and were the source of their defeat but, could you really prevent a fragile human to feel excitement when battling? Could you prevent from feeling happy about fighting? Maybe it was that what he lacked. Lucian enjoyed battles to no end; he loved to sink his fists into the enemy, cut them in half with his sword, and kick them in their head among other things. Ernest, even when he didn't say it outloud, also enjoyed it. Even if it was a situation of life and dead, he still enjoyed it. He would be very afraid if he knew he was going to die but the excitement of perhaps turning that was so good that Ernest, even knowing, will go and fight.

"Toasty…", started Aaron. He received a small grunt that told him that Toasty was listening. "How do you enjoy a battle?"

Now, that was something he never thought of hearing from Aaron.

"Why you ask?"

"I just realized how clumsy I am when I fight.", answered the boy. "Even Sheridan told me that."

"Before that, shouldn't you change the way you act?"

Aaron shot a dead glare to Toasty, to which the Terrennial laughed. Even if the boy didn't realize, he was being very influenced by Lucian in every aspect, even in battling.

"But then again, you shouldn't."

"Why?"

"You are still a kid.", explained. "Even though you are going to be seventeen soon, you are still a kid and the way you see life and battles is influenced by that.", he sighed, smiling. "You might be able to change the way you see things as you grow up but everyone, since your birth, were holding you in a small bubble. That is not bad, not at all. You are their son, they take care of you as their son and it was obvious they would feel the duty to not let you grow so fast. Even Lucian---"

"He only sees me as a kid, too.", interrupted Aaron, rolling to his side, giving his back to Toasty. "Don't do this, don't do that, you can't this, you can't that…. He only sees the child I'm still and doesn't realize that I can be as mature as him!", cried, curling up on the stone. "I'm capable of more things he can think of!!", he started to cry, curling even more. "I'm so tired of that! He only spoils me!"

"And what's so wrong about that?", asked Toasty, not really knowing why Aaron was mad about that.

"He doesn't let me do anything at all! He is the one that always does things for me, even for smaller they are!", snapped the boy as he stood up to face the Light Terrennial. "I can take care of myself very well!"

"So?", Toasty wasn't really amused by Aaron's words. "Isn't he your mate?"

"So what?"

"That gives him the right to spoil you and do everything for you because he loves you."

Aaron didn't think that way until now. It was more than natural for Lucian to want to do all things for the boy because he loved him and wanted nothing more but to be useful to him. But Aaron wanted to do the same to Lucian and the vampire didn't let him. Part of him felt like an idiot for being that selfish.

"You see? It's not about the way you fight, but how you see fights. The… well, mistake you make is thinking about others every time.", surprised, Aaron looked at Toasty with his eyes wide open. "It's not a bad thing either, but when battling you can't always think in saving others if you can't take care of you first. You don't know if those same persons will save you later or will help you in battle."

The boy was really confused. Why wouldn't he battle for others? Ernest did, Kay did, Bea did. Lucian… well, Lucian was just Lucian. Even when Aaron knew he also fights for his little mate, it made the boy angry that he often forgets about him when they battle against the enemy, yet he didn't mention it to Lucian.

"Isn't that obvious?", said Aaron. "I mean, of course we would always fight for others."

"And who is fighting for you, then?", asked Toasty.

That took Aaron of guard, and made him think. Who was fighting for him?

"Those… who am I fighting for?", came his shy response.

"Who?", asked again.

"Well… Ernest, Kay… Lucian, the Terrennials…"

"What if I tell you that none of them are really fighting for you?"

"What the hell are you talking about?", yelled Aaron. Toasty was just talking nonsense.

"In a fight you can't, you just _can't_ take care of everyone.", said the Terrennial. "First, because it's a huge weight on the shoulders. Second, you will always miss someone. Third, you can't be really sure that those who you save will help you when you are in trouble. Keep in mind not everyone on the planet is a warrior and can't fight the basic instinct of saving oneself first.", explained then. "Before everyone else, one came first, always. It doesn't matter if it's you, me, Lucian, Kay, Ernest, Dumas, anyone. Everyone when fighting fights for themselves first. They can't risk putting their trust in someone that it might not help them."

"But I would help the guys out!"

"Would you, really?", before Aaron could add something, Toasty continued. "What would happen if you notice that Ernest is fighting a very strong enemy that can't defeat? What if he is on the floor, ready to receive the final blow, and you just interfere? He will obviously yell you to run because if he couldn't beat him less wills you. If he was paired with Kay, then both of them would try to run away from it, not really caring to help each other despite the good friends they are, because they value their own life above the other.", he saw that Aaron turned his head away, angry. "I know you are mad, but it's a selfish instinct deeply inside every creature on the planet."

"I still don't like it."

"You just asked me how do you do to enjoy a battle and I am telling you your mistakes!", exclaimed Toasty. "If you can't turn those things, then you will never be a successful fighter at all."

"I managed to beat Dumas along Lucian four years ago!", Aaron crawled away from Toasty, rage showing on his face. "How can you say I'm a failure?"

"You only succeed because you were useful to Lucian.", the Terrennial's heart shrunk when he saw the hurt showing on Aaron's face. "He didn't ditch you from his side because he knew a solar gun like yours would be better than just his sword, seeing that monsters are composed of Dark Matter, that is only weak to solar energy and the ones of the Terrennials.", he sighed, running a hand on his hair. "Lucian couldn't grab a solar weapon again due to his dark powers so, what better than allying with a gunslinger? Lucian was fighting for himself only that time, he didn't really care if you died. Now he changed that because he developed intimate feelings for you and he wouldn't think the same way again, but he can't really fight for you and for him if you can't change your own thoughts and feelings each time you fight. That's another thing to why he, and Ernest and the others, are so reluctant in letting you fight, because we know from a way or another, you have higher chances of ending badly hurt from your childish thoughts of saving everyone."

Unable to help himself, Aaron started to cry. It didn't hurt the truth at all, he wasn't sad about it. He was just frustrated that nothing he did was actually working and that, in the end, he became a bother to others when he had sworn to himself he wouldn't. No one really valued the warrior inside him because he just couldn't stop thinking in others and now that he thinks about it, he had never did something for himself since the day he knew how to use a gun. He always trained, aiming to become stronger, to grow up fast so he could help Ernest, so no one should take care of him anymore, so he could really fight for those who he cared about, but it only turned out the opposite. People really believed he had talent, strength and all that, but he couldn't do one of the most important things; care of himself above all.

Toasty petted the boy's head as Aaron cried on his chest, letting out all his frustration at once. He dug his nails on the Terrennial's back, screaming his lungs out, screaming in anger and sadness, anger at himself and sadness because he couldn't do what he aimed since little.

"You still have a chance to show everyone, especially Lucian and Ernest that you are capable of taking care of yourself, of fighting for yourself, of becoming that warrior you are when you are called for.", smoothed Toasty, with a knot in his throat. He couldn't bear Aaron's crying and screams, it made him feel so sad too. "Try not to whine when they say no, don't start a fight when others are concerned about your life; instead go and see other things you could do to help others by using yourself first. They need someone to stay to protect the Hideout? The go around and patrol. They need someone to be the sub captain of a certain group? Ask if you can go and fight for that privileged spot if they say no, give them a good reason for why you should go.", Toasty sighed. He knew Aaron was listening, but the boy couldn't stop his tears from coming still. "Fight, Aaron.", he hugged the boy tighter, digging his fingers in his hair. "Fight for yourself, and show others of what you are capable of when put in the line between life and death."

It took an hour or so for Aaron to calm down. He was feeling really embarrassed about his crying and screaming, but he reached a point in where he couldn't bear it anymore and had to let go all that frustration building inside. He felt very relieved now, he felt like a huge weight had gone and now could move freely. Aaron didn't know how he was going to show Ernest and Lucian that he was capable of fighting like Toasty said, but he would find a way, even if he had to quarrel against them to prove his point.

It was late when they returned to the Hideout, almost a quarter past two in the morning. Aaron wished that no one would notice his red eyes from his crying, or the wet spot on Toasty's clothe from his tears. He didn't really want to talk at all, wanting nothing more than to lay down and sleep for a bit. Toasty hugged him a last time before turning into his plant form and floating off to the flowerpot in where he had been sleeping since they came to the Hideout.

Aaron found Lucian in their room, quietly sitting, looking into the nothing. Over his lap he had Nero curled up, purring loudly as he petted him with his right had, having the other under his chin. He appeared to be in deep thinking, perhaps to what his younger bother said about the cure. The boy didn't really want to disturb him, thinking he could just lay with Nish and Dumas for a few minutes before returning.

"Do you feel any better?", asked Lucian startling Aaron in his place. The boy should have seen it coming, especially from him. The vampire turned his head, without stop petting Nero, and smiled softly to Aaron. "Well?"

"…How did you know?", was the boy's reply.

"Something about you feels different.", explained. "I can't put my finger on it, but you definitely… feel different. You have another aura…", whispered. "Besides, your eyes are bloody red, how could you not think I would notice?", said with a fanged smile to what Aaron replied with a soft giggle.

"Yeah, you are right about that.", he walked towards Lucian and sat besides him having one of his arms circled around his shoulders the instant he did. "You have been thinking too?"

"A lot, yes.", he petted Aaron's shoulders and smiled, sighing deeply.

"What?", asked the boy, looking at him.

"I'm glad you realized why we were worrying about and that you can fix it."

Aaron seemed surprised to know that Lucian knew, wondering how he would, but didn't care in those instants. He simple smiled, leaning on him, stealing Nero's spot as he grabbed the cat and placed it on his own legs before comfortable sitting on Lucian's lap.

"I'm going to sleep, I'm tired.", he simple said before closing his eyes and snuggling on the vampire's chest.

Lucian arched his eyebrows in amusement. He smiled, petting Aaron's hair.

"Alright.", whispered, kissing the boy's head.

Early in the morning, when Aaron was still sleeping over the mattress with Nero resting besides him, Ernest, Lucian, Dumas, Nish and Kay were sitting in a spare room, the one with the computer from where Alice was sending them a few images she took during the night from Oyan's camp. It wasn't very noticeable, but there were enormous shadows covering the trees and spots over the ground, and Alice didn't know what it was. Like Ernest had feared since they returned from the last fight, it seemed that Oyan had gained more allies, a clear sign that he wasn't to give up anytime soon. The former Guild leader sighed when Dumas suggested what he was thinking, not knowing what to do with so little men right now. Despite having the Casket Armors to their favor, Nidhoggr's huge machine, the Terrennials… they were now dealing a completely unknown enemy, yet Dumas and the other two vampires suspected it could be vampires but couldn't tie the two together; Oyan and vampires didn't really come along at all. But if it was true, then they were not safe anymore in the Hideout, seeing that the vampires could easily find them anytime, much like Dainn did when he was looking for a chat with Ernest a few days back. It would be a disaster if the enemy suddenly came into the Hideout like that. They would give no time for them to get prepared and defend themselves. They had to move but, where?

Nish suggested to get the help from the people that Nidhoggr attacked when testing his machine (they didn't know that it was actually Alexander's suggestion), but Dumas said it wasn't safe since most of them were ill, yet Ernest found it pretty pleasant. He could talk with the leader about getting a spare part in the coast for them and to quarantine his men from any illness the coast's people could have. Or maybe Gaspar knew a place where they could hide until everything was over. Dumas still wasn't convinced and, surprisingly, Lucian wasn't either. He admit it was a good idea, but he had to take in mind that if something like what happened with Nidhoggr happens with Oyan or those supposed vampire allies, then there was no way in hell they would be able to escape; not the coast people nor them.

Ernest had to agree with that, so did Nish. But there weren't much places they could go to hide and be safe at the same time. Most of the towns and cities were banned because of the constant patrols Oyan made but with less than half of his men it could be that he had stopped doing them long ago, but didn't know if the werewolves took the soldier's place, or even those new allies decided to go on patrol.

There were, in fact, a few good places where they could go; one of them was the mountains, place the vampires knew well. In the correct places, they could stay unharmed and completely hidden, but takes too long in reaching them. Plus, they had to go pass Acuna, which wasn't exactly the safest place at all. The Aqueduct could possibly be the best of the choices, being it underground and pretty safe too. Ernest told Nish to go with someone immediately and take a look around. Then you had the Hunting Mansion (Dumas was still reluctant to go), and the underground place just below it, the Sancturn. It had some traps and a few guarding monsters, all human proof. It wouldn't work that well with the vampires. The Irving was also a good place, maybe not too big and comfortable like the Hideout, but it would be of use. Lastly, but not least, Dark Castle August and the Vambery. The first was in ruins, but it hadn't crumbled yet and could take a few hits before it. Besides, most vampires knew it and felt safer there with the countless monsters lurking around. Even when the enemy vampires could go through they would have to face the annoying maces inside the castle to first encounter someone and kill it, even knowing where they are. But the Vambery seemed to fit this time. Having one hundred of floors, all of them infested with thought monsters it had, by far, the most hiding places of all.

"Then we should split.", said Ernest. "One group goes to the Dark Castle and the other goes to the Vambery. Even if they are that many, they can't chase us one by one because it's just useless that way."

"Who will go with who?", asked Lucian. There weren't much strong people right now.

"The family groups, women, children and such should go to the Vambery and every two hours change floors.", explained the man. He sighed, then. "The other will go to the Dark Castle…", he tapped his fingers on the table. "Strong people… We only have around ten or fifteen. It's fair splitting half in one group and the other half into the other."

"Not really, because if we can take Oyan down right there with most of them, then problem solved.", came Lucian.

"You are right but, what if those vampires notice our plan and decide to look out the family group? And if they manage to find them? We can't left them so harmless against them either.", said Dumas.

"Is your brother strong, Lucian?", asked Ernest.

The vampire snorted.

"Shit, he put to sleep that fucking snake again.", answered with a grin. "He is pretty strong, I tell you and his partner, the shadow, is equally strong too. He not only knows to morph his body but he can also slip inside and control anyone's body."

"And you told us it now?", Dumas complained.

"None of you asked before.", replied Lucian with a dead glare.

"There is no difference right now.", said Alice. "As Ernest said, the safest places are, in this instant, the Dark Castle and the Vambery. You should start moving now before those things finds you out.", there were some noises into the other line. "Wait… what are you going to do with that big machine?"

"Aw, fuck….", groaned Ernest, completely forgetting about that small detail.

"Can't we put him in the Aqueduct?", suggested Lucian.

"All alone?"

"I don't really care what happens to him, actually…"

"I do, because that machine might decided if we live or not.", Ernest cut the vampire's discussion. "He will come with us to the Dark Castle. Besides, it can camouflage, right? For that vampire boy shouldn't be so hard to sneak to New Culiacan without being detected."

Lucian didn't really want Nidhoggr to come along, but Ernest had a point. Once Nish returned with the Viscounts he gathered everyone around and told them they were going to move, seeing that they had discovered an unknown ally that joined Oyan. He explained then the two groups plan, and who were going to go. To his not so surprise, Aaron was going to stay in the Vambery along with Kay, Bea, Rymer and Stoker, while the rest stayed at the Dark Castle. He gave everyone the day off to start packing their belongings and other important stuff like medicines, aid kit and such. Once again, Hër and Tove used the underground tunnels to travel and bring the stuff from the Hideout to the entrance of the Vambery. Hër stayed outside, guarding and patrolling around for any sign of the enemy while the rest helped in getting the things.

And again, the Terrennials were also staying in the family group for a while now. Ernest told them he would need their help in the battle field if things come a little tight for them.

Everything took almost a day to complete. Hër and others managed to put all the medical things, the blood bags and all belongings a little before ten in the evening. Ernest then decided to move with the family group, the vampires with the Casket Armors tagging along, leaving in the Hideout those few people that could still fight, Lucian, Aaron, Nish and Dumas. Nidhoggr went with Alexander and Máximo to pick up the machine and start moving as well.

Aaron decided to go outside once again. It was already midnight when Ernest finally left with the group and now, the Hideout seemed so empty without everyone in there. He had gotten used to the little chaos in. It wasn't easy at all to coexist. The tension and stress caused when the family and loves went to battle wasn't easy to handle. Aaron, along with Tove and the other Terrennials, had to calm down a few women that freaked out, crying rivers of tears at the thought of losing their husbands and sons. To most of them, this nightmare came true and they only found comfort losing themselves in the sweet memories. Some others found it in their youngest children, whispering to them they would take care of them no matter what. Part of Aaron's frustration came also from that. There was a point in where he couldn't bear anymore sorrow from the people inside, knowing that his own mate was outside fighting, risking his life and with equal chances of coming dead or alive from it. But he stood strong, not only for himself, but for others looking for comfort, looking for someone who would hold them and say that everything's going to be fine. It was a terrible lie, but it made them feel better.

He was now glad he could spend time with Lucian before going to the Vambery when Ernest returned to take the others to the Dark Castle. Even when he had faced this feeling every time Lucian went into fighting, that oppression in his chest wouldn't fade away. This time, even when Lucian finished, came alive from the fight, he will not return to the Vambery, and Aaron wouldn't know if he was alive or not. That thought made the boy scared and angry at the same time. He wanted to do something of what Toasty said, he wanted to tell Ernest he was capable of fighting and all, but right now he felt that the best for him, emotionally, was to stay with the others in the Vambery and wait.

"Aaron…", whispered Lucian when he reached the boy. Aaron lifted his head. "Come."

The boy stood up and the vampire started to walk off.

"Wait, go where?"

Lucian just smiled, grabbing the boy's hand and walking into the deep and dark forest.

Aaron noticed that Lucian was, strangely, wearing his jacket when he had renounced to it when the boy took possession of it.

They arrived to a clear but didn't stand there. Instead, Lucian took the boy far away from it, in a darker area. Having Dark Matter in his body already, Aaron's eyes quickly adapted to the darkness around and saw how Lucian moved behind him, circling his arms around his waist and kissing his neck, nibbling now and then. Even when the Full Moon phase was gone, the vampire still felt that urge burning inside. He had suppressed it with the fights but couldn't when being so close to his mate. Those feelings resurfaced again and, this time, Lucian wasn't going to deny them. Nor was going Aaron, seeing how lost he was in the vampire's mouth. He had turned around to grasp the other's arms, tangling his tongue with Lucian's. The boy now knew why his vampire took him there, and it was nothing more to taste him before what it seemed the last time.

Aaron dug his nails on Lucian's back, gasping between their breaths, already heating up because of them. The vampire took off his jacket and dropped it on the ground, obliging Aaron to sit on it. He tried to extend it over the ground, but he wasn't really into that much, so he just pounced on the boy and laid on him how they fall. The young gasped again, tugging the collar of the Casket Armor of Lucian, who took it off almost immediately. It lay a few inches against them, along with Aaron's shirt and shoes. They were tearing down their clothes, splashing it besides their hot bodies as their mouth roamed each other's neck and face, while their hands travelled everywhere they could go on that sweated skin. Lucian's teeth bit down on Aaron's flesh, leaving bright, red and bloody marks that would end up like swollen hickeys the next day. The vampire shivered in pleasure when the boy dug his nails and run them across his back, probably leaving long, red lashes over it.

Thought the night was lightly cold, neither of them actually felt it being so close and heating up so fast. They were groping each other, moaning in their mouths, breathing heavily, feeling the sweat running down their bodies. Aaron had marked Lucian considerably with his hands, mouth and teeth. The vampire's back looked like a cat had scratched it with its sharp claws. His shoulders and neck were covered with small hickeys and bites, his upper arms ending with the same fate. The boy wasn't much better than him, seeing how Lucian's fingers were sharper than his and actually bring out blood the vampire enjoyed licking.

They didn't really do much of foreplay that night, as Lucian almost instantly drove himself inside Aaron, groaning when the boy tightened around him as he circled Lucian's waist with his legs. Aaron sighed and made a small noise when he felt the vampire move, grasping his hips with his strong hands and thrusting in and out, fastening rather quick as the boy felt the vampire's mouth on his, starting a fight with his tongue and then leaving to play with his ear, suddenly getting bored of it. But Lucian didn't remove his mouth from the boy's ear; he started moaning in it, gasp and purr while taking Aaron over the ground in that dark forest. For Aaron, those sounds were a huge turn on as he circled Lucian's neck with his arms tightly, biting down on the vampire's ear before letting out a small moan.

In those moments, the war seemed so far, like a mirage made after being punished by the intense heat of a lonely desert. It wasn't present in their minds that in a few hours they would have to go out and fight again, risking their lives for an idea of life and to protect what was important to them. The only important thing right now was them; the smooth feeling of the other's skin on their hands, the hair tickling on their noses, the lips caressing softly, tenderly. Aaron had thought that it was their last time before anything happens, but with more deep thinking, he realized it wasn't that way at all. Lucian was just encouraging that feeling that bounded him to the young one, to have him always in his mind when he had to fight against the enemy, knowing that Aaron was waiting him in the Vambery to return alive.

Right now, Lucian was being selfish, taking Aaron to himself, just to feel him again against his skin as he thrusted hard down on the boy, hearing his moans in his ears. He didn't want to fight at all, several times the thought of bringing the boy with him and abandon everyone else crossed his mind far too often. But that would be too cowardly for someone like Lucian, yet he was scared of losing Aaron. The idea of not seeing him again was too much for the vampire to bear, and he would do anything to keep him out of danger, even if that meant to lock him up. He was no one to oblige Aaron to do it, as much as he cared for him, Lucian couldn't force him to.

"Lucian!", whispered the boy as he dug his nails on the vampire's back. He moaned and hid his face on the other's neck, sighing deeply.

The boy cummed first, tightening around Lucian who gasped as he dug his claws on the ground, thrusting one last time before he shot his seed inside the young one. The vampire growled as he panted for breath, opening his eyes to watch the relaxed face of Aaron after his orgasm. Lucian smiled and kissed his forehead, snuggling closer to him.

"My child…", murmured the vampire, petting his head.

"You always cheat…", said Aaron between giggles. He heard Lucian chuckle and then he felt his lips on his, kissing him softly. "Just dragging me into problems, always."

"But you do like it.", answered the vampire. "If not, you would have already hit me.", Aaron kissed him and the laid back, sighing. "What's the matter?"

"If female humans are called 'brides'…", the young one blushed deeply. "Then what am I called? Groom?"

Lucian couldn't help it and started to laugh.

"What's with that out of nowhere?", asked Lucian as he kept laughing. He petted Aaron's head again and smiled.

"…it's strange how after this your mind seems to clear and you think of things you never thought before.", Lucian snorted and hid on the boy's neck, trying to muffle his laughs. "What?!", shouted Aaron, hitting the vampire with his hands.

"Stop, stop it!", said as he giggled. He put his forehead against Aaron's and giggled a last time. "I'm sorry, but you came with the most funny arguments in such situations.", he leaned again and bit the neck of the boy. Then he proceeds to sink his fangs and start drinking his blood.

Aaron moaned softly, tangling his fingers in Lucian's hair and sighed. The thought of the war came into his mind once again as he opened his eyes and looked up, watching a few stars between the tree's tops. And sighed, closing his eyes once more and letting himself get lost in the wonderful sensation of having his mate cuddling in his arms for a last time.


	32. Chapter 32

Hello all! :) New chapter!

Lady: He will, definitely. He isn't stubborn for nothing. XD Ah, I'm glad I Could make you feel better with it. :3 Thanks!

Zohaku: Yay, new reader! :33 I'm glad you are liking it so far. And about the Dark Matter… soon more to come! Thanks!

Also, thanks to Rakel Sant for the FavoriteAuthor add!!

See ya in the next chap! Enjoy this one!

* * *

32

"It reminds me of Spiral Tower…", said Dainn when he and the rest arrived to the ruined Dark Castle. "You know, not this fucked up but it has some similitudes."

Lucian groaned.

"It's more similar than you think.", answered remembering the time he and Aaron had in it.

The first time they got inside, Lucian noticed it was not only similar to the Spiral Tower but also had the same seal artifacts like in the satelite called by the same name where Hel used to live, and from where Ratatosk managed to go to Mahoroba. To go to the next room, both Lucian and Aaron had to activate four jewels that correspond to the four elemental Terrennials, while on the satelite, he remembered that you had to beat the souless bodies of the people Lucian had under his comand when he was still the Dark Boy. He still wondered why Ratatosk would create a building like the original Dark Castle on the planet.

They only could stay in the first floor, since the rest was destroyed when Byron fell on both towers. Dumas seemed nervous when he walked around, probably not feeling that good visiting his second most hated place right now, and Nish found it amusing watching him come and go in the room. The vampire hope that soon, very soon, Dumas would finally let go of everything and really start his new life, like he often said, but there were a few tips that still locked him to his past. The war wasn't helping at all, even less the fact that Ursula had successfully revived Rymer with the help of that strange soup.

Nish sighed. He had been also thinking a lot about his own past, and how the decisions he made lead him there, fighting along with humans and trying to get the former Duke and most powerful vampire to mate with him. He had lost all hope in love after the careless mates and friends he had when he left his hometown years ago, turning into your typical promiscuous vampire that goes from one to another. Nish tried to comprehend what was the exact thing Dumas' had that makes him so attached to the former duke. But each time he sits to think about it, he couldn't find it. The first time he saw him wandering in the mountains, Nish saw sadness and loneliness in his eyes, and that told him that he had lost someone truly important to him. When in personal terms Nish tries to stay away, he couldn't do the same with Dumas. He had the urge to come up with to him and talk to him, yet he didn't know why. Most people will call it love at first sight, but Nish didn't believe in that.

"Aren't you scared or something?", asked Dumas sitting next to him. Nish barely noticed it, so deep in his thoughts. It was a bad habit he had.

"About what?"

"This.... thing.", he curled besides the albino vampire and sighed. "I want it to end already..."

"We all do.", answered Nish, circling an arm around Dumas' shoulders. They remained silent for a few seconds, until Nish spoke again. "What do you want to do after it's over?"

It was a topic not so touched in situations like this, and it took the former duke off guard.

"I can't think of anything right now, what about you?", said Dumas. Actually, he did want to do a few things after the war was over, but he was either too pridefull or too shy to say them, especially to Nish.

"Well...", he blushed a bit. "I will start looking for a place were to live, you know.", Dumas blushed too, but brighter than Nish, at his response. "Now I have a good excuse to stay here in the East Lands and stop being a nomad."

Instead of replying, Dumas hid on the other's chest, curling up on him.

"What? Don't you like the idea of me staying?", asked, but he knew why the horned vampire was acting so ashamed suddenly. Dumas was possibly thrilled at the idea of living with him, but at the same time was scared to death. Nish could understand him, though.

"Asshole.", mumbled Dumas, his face becoming redder.

It was nearly one in the morning when the third group patrolling New Culiacan said that they saw Oyan's group move. Ernest took his Dragoon and led the rest outside the castle and onto the field. Nidhoggr was the only one that actually did what he wanted, along with Dainn, since Ernest didn't really know how they were fighting. Lucian along with Dyango were grouped together and jumped to some buildings to see how Oyan moved with his soldiers and, behind them, several figures all dressed with dark cloaks. Lucian and Dyango could immediately tell they were vampires because of their smell, and started wondering how the hell they ended up joining Oyan.

"We will figure out that after we win.", said Dyango as he and Lucian walked closer to the edge of the building. "Oh?"

"What?"

"They have the old Rising sun grenades.", answered with a fair grin.

"Did they forget we have the Casket Armors?"

"No... It's not that. Even when our body will not get serious damage from it, remember that our eyes are still very sensitive to sunlight."

"So they plan to blind us."

"Possibly.", he watched how Lucian summoned his wings from his origin form and flew towards them. "Bro! Wait! What are you doing?!"

"Taking them before they can take us.", replyed the vampire.

Dyango sighed. He looked down to his shadow and Dainn appeared from it seconds after. The shadow vampire morphed into giant wings that attached themselves to the young man's back as he took flight.

"Always so reckless, brother.", murmured Dyango approaching with Dainn.

On the ground, Ernest growled as he gripped Dragoon's cannon of the weapon, cursing out loud and watching in rage how Lucian moved towards the enemy without his concern or direct orders.

"I swear if he wasn't Aaron's boyfriend I would have fired him---no, I would kill him!!", said to Kay, who merely shrugged. "Wait, Nish!! Where the fuck are you going?!"

"Like I told you earlier...", said Nish. "We vampires are not going to be bossed around by humans like you. If Lucian says so, we will move.", answered with a grin as he and the rest of the vampires followed them.

Dumas merely smiled and waved to Ernest.

"When we decided that?", said the tanned man.

"Apparently, just now.", said Kay.

Neschume and Oyan were seeing how the vampires were coming at them. The humans wielded the same shields they used when they tried to kidnap Aaron the first time in the woods, and the noble's simple wearing the Casket Armors as a few close range weapons such as daggers, knives and other things. Even when having such powerful magic, vampires were better at close range combats due to their inhuman strength, much like werewolves, though not as good as them. Talking about werewolves, Cyril and his men were at the back of the group, guarding that the enemy didn't want to do a surprise attack of some sort. Cyril just hated the way things came out; he really disliked the idea of working with the vampires. He knew that something wrong was going to happen with them. Those nobles were dangerous, unlike the vampire boy who was just using Oyan. Those nobles were going to kill them regardless the result of the battle. Cyril sighed. He hated being a loyal dog.

Lucian and Dyango were about to attack when a single, texturized bullet shot and stuck in Lucian's upper tigh. The man groaned in pain as he stopped in mid air, his younger brother collapsing on his back when he did. Dyango separeted himself from Lucian as he noticed the bleeding injury, looking around and trying to identify the shoter, only to be shot on his right shoulder.

The other group of vampires that were coming to them got shot too. Besides Dumas, everyone managed to hide before the bullets hit them. The former Duke growled in anger for being that stupid as he run closer to Lucian, who was shaking in pain.

"Oh? Who's that sharp shoter you got up there?", asked Neschume to Oyan, who snorted.

"Recher."

"The fattie? I thought his only weapons were swords."

"I would never hire him if he only used swords."

Neschume laughed under his breath as he watched how Lucian squirmed in pain due to the recent shot. Dyango and Dumas were having the same symptoms, and Dainn was currently trying to catch the shoter with his shadows. Nish just came to them as he formed an ice barrier around them to protect them. The rest of the vampires hid in the shadows when they saw how their leaders were down.

The Dark Matter started to evaporize from Lucian's pores slowly and shortly, Dyango and Dumas were the same.

"Ha!", exclaimed Dainn. "Managed to kill him.", said as he returned to normal. "Are you three having that weird phenomen of human combustion?"

"Not the time, Dainn.", growled Dyango as he glared at the albino vampire.

"Then what it is?!", asked Dumas.

With a groan of pain, Lucian's form started to shrink until the shape he had when he was only twelve years old. Dumas and Dyango watched in awe how his body changed forms, and now, Lucian was inside the body of the Dark Boy he used to be, having the small scar across his face and that hairstyle his father used to have, with the two bangs covering his face and the "antena" from behind. The only thing missing was his bandana and clothes.

"Ugh, I feel like crap...", said Lucian. "What the? What happened to my voice?!", he was shocked to hear it... pitcher. "WHAT THE FUCK?!", screamed upon seeing his reflex on the ice.

"Is this some sort of magic?", asked Dyango, who was also in his body of the same age as Lucian. Yet, seeing how his vampiric powers were on, he was actually transformed into the vampire half he used to own years ago, which made his hair stand up and dye darker, nearly a brown color, and his skin turning blue like most vampires.

"It's a seal power.", answered Lucian. "But this seal power is from the Lunar Tribe! How did Oyan managed to put his hands on such old magic?"

"That's not important now!", exclaimed Dumas, with his childish voice like Lucian and Dyango. "What are we gonna do if our power's been sealed?"

The sudden impact the ice barrier got startled them all. Seemed that Oyan started attacking when he had them just where he wanted and he was not going to waste time anymore. Neschume was standing still next to him, waiting to the vampires to actually come from inside the little igloo. He could attack them from the inside if he wanted, but Neschume and his nobles wanted a little fun before. Besdies, working on that igloo was fair too easy for them, and seemed that Oyan wanted a little of his glory. To Neschume, it didn't matter at all, since the auburn man, the gunslingers and the werewolves were all going to have the same fate.

"Fight, what else?", said Lucian. "Just because most of our power has been sealed doesn't mean we can't use weapons. It doesn't matter if they are made from our Dark Matter or are regular weapons, we still can use them. We might not imply huge damage to our enemies, but we will sure be a pain in the ass.", Dainn morphen into a devil looking sword and Dyango took him from the hilt. Nish created an ice bow and arrow for Dumas, while Lucian summoned Vanargandr. "Ok, at the count of three, Nish will make the barrier melt and we will attack.", said barrier was starting to crack from all the shots it was receiving. "Got it? One... two... shit!!"

A hand grenade made contact and blew up seconds after, shattering the barrier in instants. Nish and Dumas run towards the closes building much like Dyango and Dainn did, but Lucian was still on his spot, trying to lift up his sword that, incredibly, he couldn't. Vanargandr seemed to be extremely heavy for him right now and was refusing to be used by him. The red eye of the sword looked at him anxiously, like wanting Lucian to move, go and fight. But the boy couldn't. He couldn't lift up his sword, his own sword! What was happening? Lucian wasn't going to stand there and figure it out. As soon as he realized what was happening, he turned the sword into Dark Matter, absorved it into his body and turned into shadows, hidding underground and poping out right besides Dyango, who was looking at him with wide eyes.

"Why didn't you attack?", asked the blond.

"I couldn't lift my sword. Don't ask, I don't know why.", said before his brother could say anything. "Give me the spear, Jormungandr."

But to Lucian's surprise, when Dyango materialized the spear on his hands, he fell on the floor. He tried to lift it up but it was useless. Lucian then tried, only to notice he was failing too. The older cried in anger, kicking the spear with his foot, pulling his hair in rage. The other vampires, along with the gunslingers, started to counterattack to Oyan's group as they started to come closer to them.

"What the fuck is this?! I can't use my own weapons!!", cried Lucian.

"Maybe it's because of the seal. By reducing your power, it also reduces your physical strenght and because of that, you can't use your sword or your spear.", Lucian returned the spear to his body as well. "And that means that you can't summon Jormungandr or Vannargand as long as you are sealed. Don't you have another weapon you can use?"

"....I have Hel.", said Lucian in a whisper. "No, I really don't want to use her."

"Do you have another idea?", asked Dyango arching an eyebrow.

Lucian sighed as he summoned the scythe on his hands that, surprisingly, wasn't as heavy as the others. The vampire groaned as he took it with both hands, looking at his younger broher.

"Fuck it."

Dyango smiled and followed Lucian to the battle. Lucian held Hel high above his head and, once it was charged, he stood on the floor and spun, cutting the enemy in thin slices. The gunslingers walked backwards in horror, only to be stuck and cut by the long blades from the scythe. But Lucian hated it. The scythe wasn't a very useful weapon, not compared to his sword and spear. It was too heavy and difficult to manipulate and he only had a few restricted moves for it, meaning he could only spin around with it or hit with it. If he wanted to stab, it would make him vulnerable for a few seconds the enemy could take advantage of.

All those negatives thoughts were felt by the scythe, more precisely, by the creature sealed in the weapon. Once it had enough, she firmly plated herself on the ground making Lucian lost his graps on it.

"What?!", he screamed to it. "Don't start bitching right now!! We don't have the time to do so!!", a solar bullet hit his arm and burned it a bit, making him more angered he was right now. He turned around and whiped out some of his dark power to kill the gunslinger that attacked him.

"How do you want me to fight with you if you only complain of how useless I am?!", cried out the scythe with a woman's voice. "It's obvious you preffer Vannargandr and Jomungardr over me!"

"Of course I do!", he whiped out another attack to a few gunslingers that were approaching him. "From all the weapons that exist, you have to turn into a useless scythe!!"

"You see?! I'm not going to help you if you keep thinking that way!!"

"Come on now, Hel! I can't summon Vannargandr or Jormungandr to help me because of this fucking seal! What do you want me to do?!"

"If you could summon me and use me, then you can find me a host and I will be able to help you! If you stop complaining about me, that's it."

Lucian laughed loudly, and grinned.

"And what garantees me that you will not try to kill me or Django? Or anyone in here? Don't you remember I am the only person that knows you really well and knows that if you are ever released from that scythe you might actually try to get over the world again, like fourty years ago!?"

".....Can't trick you anymore, can I? But then again, what are you going to do? You have a horde of powerful nobles against you, and your 'army' is only a few strong vampires and a few humans. How are you going to win without using me or the beasts in the current state your body and power are?"

Lucian opened his mouth but closed it again. Hel was right; he didn't have enough power to actually kill the nobles, if he hadn't the seal of course. But since he did, at some point he would have to reatreat and then sit and see that the war was actually lose. He didn't want that, not at all. He was not going to give his lands, his _home_ to some assholes that pretends they know what the best for this world is.

"I'm your only choice right now.", to Hel's surprise, Lucian groaned but smiled.

"This is why I hate dealing with women."

"And for what you actually turned gay?"

"....we are NOT discussing my sexual preferences, not right now.", Lucian felt a shiver run down his spine at the mere thought of talking something so importat with someone that almost killed him, not to mention that raised him.

Lucian took the scythe on his hands again and looked out for Dyango and the others. He clearly knew he had to rush it up seeing how now the nobles were moving. Oyan had stopped attacking with his men time ago when the vampires from Ernest's group killed most of them. It was now or never.

"What? You want me to what?", said Dyango as he listened to what Hel said. "Where do you want me to find a female human in this war?!"

"I don't know, but I want one as my host.", answered the scythe. "I can't risk that my Dark Matter doesn't syncronize with a female vampire."

"From where we can get one?", said Dainn, thinking.

"There aren't much female humans I know...", said Dumas.

"What about Bea?", suggested Nish.

Everyone felt in silence, looking at each other.

"Bea?", repeated Lucian. "But she isn't with us, asshole!!", screamed.

"Then go and get her, dickhead!!", screamed Nish back.

"How?! She is in the Vambery! Even if I go at full speed, once I get there everyone will be dead here!"

"Can both of you cut it out already?!", interrupted Dainn. "I will go and bring her here, since I'm the fastest from all of you. But we need a good place were to perform the transmission."

"What about on the roof of some building?", suggested Dumas.

"Alright, I will be waiting onto that white one.", said Lucian, pointing a house right in front of him. "The others will have to endure until Dainn's back with Bea."

Everyone was dismissed seconds after. Dainn disappeared inside Lucian's shadow while the rest returned to the battle, where most of their group was being beated up heavily by the noble vampires. If Lucian and the others didn't manage getting rid of the seal in time, then there was no way they would be able to win. Even Nidhoggr was having troubles with the nobles. His machine was a great iron defense in all senses, but its lack of agility against the vampires made it an easy target for powerful attacks that damaged the iron protecs of it. One of the light bubbles was already broken and was making sparkles all the time. Nidhoggr took that to his advantage and was able to electrocute some nobles with it, but the nobles learned fast and already created a protection against the electricity.

While the soldiers were enduring in the battle field, Dainn traveled underground, towards the Vambery, where the rest of them were staying. It wasn't hard to know where Bea was, since where she was, Aaron was too. And Dainn didn't waste too much time knowing as soon as he knew, he enveloped the woman in his shadows, merely saying "we need your help" before vanishing once more. Aaron stood in his place, watching the spot where Bea once stood.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!", yelled Bea when Dainn finally made it back. "You scared the shit out of me!"

"I'm so sorry...", apologized the albino. "But... we are in a rush, actually, and I didn't have the time to explain."

Nish appeared behind Dainn as Lucian stood up holding the scythe in his hands. Bea gasped in surprise when Nish and Dainn grabbed her by her arms, and tangled their legs with hers, preventing her to move at all. She struggled, starting to feel fear. After all, she was just a female human being attacked by three strong vampire, one of them she didn't know at all, thought didn't know why he was using a weapon it belonged to Lucian.

"Hey, hey! Hands off!", screamed Bea.

"Shh, dear...", hushed Lucian as he approached the woman, scythe in hand. The weapon was already quivering. "This is going to hurt just a bit."

"What?! What are you doing?!", screamed again. "Let go! Let go!"

Lucian lifted the scythe above his head and quickly impaled it on Bea's back. The blades went through her body, soaking her uniform with her river of blood. She coughed up blood, and shivered in cold. The scythe turned black and enveloped the woman's body before she started to morph because of the Dark Matter. She grew taller, taller than the three vampires there. Her hair grew extremely long, forming three pairs of horns on her head; one upright just behind her head, the second one extending at her sides and the last one curling insides. Her skin turned greenish and her ears became pointy, like vampire's have. On her shoulders, appeared shoulder amors with spikes that turned into gloves encasing both of her arms. The eyes became sharper and the iris turned light purple, while her lips became more seductive and bloody red.

"Long time no see, Queen.", said Dainn when Hel finished controlling her host's body. Instead of just wearing her usual cloak and outfit, she simple desided to keep Bea's uniform but turning it pitch black.

Hel smirked.

"Sabata.", said as she watched her creation before her, with an extremely pissed off expression. Clearly, he wasn't nearly as happy as ever by having to see her again.

"Well? Get moving, we don't have the whole night.", said Lucian as he summoned what little he had of power to create some weapons.

"What? You don't have your Dark Gun anymore?", said the woman before jumping off the building.

Lucian looked at Dainn, who immediatly knew what that glare meant.

"Go now and bring me Hell."

"Why? Can't you use those weapons you just created?"

"Casket Armors were designed to resist solar bullets, not dark bullets.", answered Lucian. Dainn sighed and disappeared yet once more. "Can I ask you some of your ice?"

Nish smiled as he tossed to Lucian a sphere of ice. That sphere molded into the dark weapons the vampire just created.

"Thanks."

The ice vampire decided to leave as well, while Lucian stayed on the roof. He created a bow similar to the one Nish gave Dumas and started to look around, until he spot Oyan along with Neschume, both of them fighting back to back. Lucian created a dark arrow that put on the bow, tensing the tread, targeting... and letting it go. Luckily to Oyan, Neschume noticed it before the arrow could make contact on the human, but with this, Lucian's location was out.

"Now, now, are you going to be fine without me, North Leader?", asked the vampire.

"I don't think you will care what happens to me."

Neschume laughed as he dashed towards the building where Lucian was staying. The vampire boy noticed as well, looking around. He knew he wasn't a worthy opponent right now to the noble, having no power left, so he had to find somewhere to hide until Dainn returned with the Dark Gun.

"Aw, fuck!", mumbled when one of Neschume's whips grabbed his right leg, making him fall on his face. He kicked out his legs but the grip on it became tighter. It almost felt like when Aaron tied him up with his magic when Vannargandr took over his body.

"Ah, easy, Moon Beauty.", said Neschume when he reached the boy. Lucian trashed out his legs again as he stood up, but got down on the floor by the whip in seconds. "I told you to calm down!", shouted the noble as he trashed Lucian's body on the floor, hitting him with the sides of the building. The vampire boy groaned in pain as he lifted up his head. "Good, good!"

Lucian hissed, showing his fangs to the dark haired vampire as he walked closer, gripping and pulling on the whip that was grabbing the boy's leg right now.

"So, we finally meet, Moon Beauty. I have been dreaming of this day since a few... centuries.", he said with a fanged smile. "I must say I was extremely angered when your mother decided to turn her back to us....", he was interrupted when one of the arrows stuck on his right shoulder. Neschume thanked his quick reflexes or else he would have been reduced to ashes if that arrow hit his heart.

"Fuck you! Don't talk about my mother like you knew her!!", shouted Lucian as he gripped his teeth, cursing when the weapon didn't hit the target, but left enough time for him to get rid of the Dark Matter around his leg. Neschume gasped in pain as he retracted the whip. "She didn't want anything else but to live with my father!"

"Oh please, thirty years ago you weren't exactly saying these things! You hated your father!", exclaimed the noble as he broke the arrow, the weapon vanishin in the air.

Lucian grinned.

"I'm a hypocrite, so I change my mind several times depending on the situation."

He launched towards Neschume, with his claws stretching out and ready to stab on the noble, but the vampire was faster right now and was able to not only dodge, but also to punch Lucian on his stomach, getting rid of his air and obliging him to flintch. The vampire boy growled, digging his claws on the floor beneath him.

"Hypocrite, eh? Then...", said the noble. "What about you change your opinion right now? If you do, then maybe me and my family will take some mercy on your....", he gestured with his hands. "...family, too, including your mate.", Lucian hissed again, and Neschume laughed. "Well, I didn't expect you to agree in the first try but, what about if we ask Lord Vananrgandr, eh?", the boy tensed when the vampire took out from his pocket a piece of metal. "I bet he is already tired of staying in a body he can't take over completely."

"....the Crosses?", whispered Lucian, still trying to catch his breath.

"Oh, so you remember them! That's good!", clapped Neschume. "Because I can't tell you how much you are going to suffer with them."

This time, it was Neschume who launched towards Lucian, his right hand stretching out.

"But first I have to take out that annoying needle!", he screamed, grinning widely. "And once it's out, everything will be done!"

It would have been a critical hit if Lucian's shadow didn't morph right in front of Neschume, giving him a certain punch on his face, sending him backwards and rolling on the floor, knocking him off. Dainn cursed, grabbing his hand as he couldn't believe how hard the skull of that vampire was.

"Aw, shit!! That's some hard head he got there!!"

"Did you found it?", cried Lucian as he finally could stand up. A ball of shadow came out of Dainn's body and rested on his hands.

"It took some time... Dj had it really well hidden.", Lucian dismissed the weapons and took on hands the Dark Gun. The dark len glowed brightly when he started pouring his energy in it. Neschume, on the other hand, was slowly getting up, groaning and rubbing his face.

Lucian aimed to the noble and tried to shot, but only weak bullets were coming out. Seeing he would need some time to adjust to it again, he left the roof, telling Dainn to take care of Neschume. The albino groaned, seeing how the noble slowly stood up, feeling dizzy after the hard hit. Dainn summoned his shadows which covered a good portion of the roof, hidding his legs and feet in them. They started to rise from the floor and swirl around before solidifing and turning into deadly stalagmites, disappearing in the floor and reapearing under and next to Neschume, injuring his body and making him bleed quickly with the firsts hits. The noble would be already dead because of them if he wasn't a vampire, and thanks to that, he was able to recover quickly from his dizziness and dodge the following attack.

"I don't have the time to deal with you.", murmured Neschume before vanishing into a cloud of bats.

"Neither did I.", replied Dainn to the emptyness.

Nidhoggr was tackling the nobles with his giant machine, but it wasn't making any difference at all. Besides, it was already pretty much damaged from all the attacks it received and some parts of the iron armor were falling off or cracking in the weldings. He knew his machine wasn't going to endure more time under the nobles. He will have to withdraw it soon or Machine King was done for. Inside, the vampire boy was having a hard time. Some conections from the cameras had been ripped off, having only a few of them still working which mean he had blind spots that the nobles took advantage of. A nice hit shook the entire machine, making it lose balance and falling to the floor. Inside, the computer shut down completely despite Nidhoggr's tries in getting it on again. He would have to move carefully now that Machine King had no energy left to move. The nobles outside will either wait for him or come right inside to finish him right there. The vampire boy hated not being that good fighting so he just decided to run away for the moment. Before the nobles decided to enter, he hid in the shadows and left the machine.

"Weren't you having fun with your machine?", said Dainn when the vampire boy appeared below his feet.

"Machine King is done for the moment, and I'm not exactly a good fighter.", explained as he get out from it, Dainn helping him to his feet. "Did the others have some luck?"

"Barely. Those vampires are quiet something… but Lucian decided to bring back the Queen since he can't use his other two weapons because of a power seal he and Dyango has."

"The Queen? You mean Hel?", Dainn nodded to him. "And what are you doing here?"

It was a good question, actually. The shadow shifter wasn't fighting at all, just staying in the roof where Neschume fled time ago. The albino laughed nervously and his shadows swirled around him in a similar fashion.

"You aren't the type to help others, are you?", said Nidhoggr.

"It's not that I'm that type of person, just waiting for the inevitable.", the vampire boy looked at him in a weird way, not really knowing what he was talking about. "And you and I will have an important task to do once that happens."

Nidhoggr was still thinking what those words would mean, while the rest was still fighting to keep themselves alive. And it was a hard thing. Oyan didn't give them a break, neither did the nobles, and they were growing tired, especially the humans. Ernest was near his limits much like Kay, and the rest were as bad as them. The vampires couldn't fight against all of them in a single row; it was too much even for them. While they were much more resistant than humans, they still had a limit too. Soon they would have to retreat but Ernest didn't know how to do it without them knowing where they were going. They could use the teleportation of vampires towards the Dark Castle but, what if one of those nobles was able to track them down? The tanned man gripped his teeth. If they were spotted in the Dark Castle, they weren't going to be able to return to the Vambery. He couldn't put in risk to the ones waiting for their return. It's true that Dumas' vampires and the Terrennials were there too, but the possibility of hostages was too high to even think about it.

"Where the hell is Lucian?", said to no one in particular as he hid with Kay behind a crumbled house. "We need to get the fuck out of here."

"Is it safe like this to return to the Dark Castle?", asked the canid.

"I don't know, but if we don't, we will end up dead."

Ernest didn't know that Hel and Dyango were fighting against a group of nobles and Cyril's werewolves not so far from where he and Kay rested. He couldn't have known of it because of the noise others around him were doing. The Queen wasn't having problems at all, not even after being sealed in the scythe Ratatosk designed especially for her remains from the satellite. She wasn't out of shape, she hadn't forgotten how to fight and she was sure kicking their butts. Dyango recognized the attacks she used like the ones from the Immortals and the Guardians Sabata had under his command almost thirty years ago. She could fire the fireballs from the Iron Golem Muspellheim, create the blizzard attacks from the Snow Wolf Garmr, petrify them with the medusa like shots from Crying Banshee Carmilla and the floor attack the Count of Bloodsoaking Earth used. In those moments, Dyango remembered his youth, the recently death of his father, Ringo, how Hel kidnapped his own sister and Dyango's mother. His hands shook as he hit the enemy in the face.

It was torturous for him to remember all those things. He lost his mother but gained a bit of the affection of his older brother that fought with him against Hel, trying to get their mother back. When Ringo bit him, he truly thought his older brother was going to let him turn into a vampire seeing how little they knew each other and how little brotherhood they had (after all, Sabata DID hate him back then), but Sabata risked his own life to purifying him, they worked together with the puzzles in Spiral Tower, they worked together to defeat Dainn, Sabata helped him with Jormungandr… but the feeling of betrayal he had when Sabata stabbed his back, when he fought with him and Otenko, when he told him those harming words before tossing him to the prison and sealing him, leaving him to root to death…

Dyango hit another vampire, this time he managed to break his skull, killing it instantly.

He never felt so much anger and hatred towards someone, he never thought of having those feelings inside his heart. Despite the hate his older brother gave him, Sabata somehow loved him back, in his own twisted way but he did, and Django was happy that, at last, he had some family left where he could lean on, but when that happened, Django completely lost all hope for his brother to change and started hating him the moment the prison shut, the moment the darkness consumed him.

The vampire boy hissed, his fists turning black with Dark Matter as they turned into blades. With them, he stabbed one of them in the heart and took it off, watching how the vampire turned to ashes in front of him.

But he still had hopes for him. Something that Sabata told him before Hresvelgr sealed him made him still believe in his older brother. He knew Otenko hadn't hear it, he knew that Ratatosk didn't, he knew that no one but him did, and it was a promise Sabata made to him, in that silent night of Full Moon, watching the beautiful silver glow around his older brother Django knew his brother would keep his promise somehow. At first it was hard to make the idea in his head, Django knew it was remotely possible that Sabata succeed in his promise, but that didn't stop him from believing even having his heart full of hate towards him. It was that small, infantile and wishful promise which prevented Django from collapsing and letting his heart be corrupted by his vampire half.

In the end, alone in the cold and dark prison, he realized how much Sabata suffered when he was ripped apart from their parents, to know that his single younger brother didn't know about him, that wasn't an important part of his life. Django finally understood, in his solitude, how lonely Sabata felt when he was raised by Hel, and he cried, and he cried for days and nights for his older brother, how miserable his life had been thanks to him, who had been always been surrounded of warm people and feelings and a loving family. Because let's face it, Django had actually a family for almost twelve or fifteen years, when Sabata only got suffering and loneness, having to take care of his own, enduring the weird experiments they put him through…

Dyango knew that he wanted now to help his brother in fulfilling the promise he made long ago. He killed what it was now his fifteenth enemy, hissing when his wounds ached. If it wasn't for Dainn that after a few years managed to get his body back, he wouldn't have been able to get outside the prison, but it was too late to help his brother at that time.

"Then what are we going to do?", asked Dainn, watching how Django discarded his crimson scarf. There was no point in wearing his hunter clothes anymore.

"Ratatosk is probably going to run test on Sabata, to make him more powerful, to be able to get a better control at Vanargandr.", said Django as he sighed. He could feel the tip of his fangs nibbling his bottom lip. "I will help him from the shadows in trying to find a way to get rid of his Dark Matter."

"And how are you going to do it?", asked Dainn, following Django as the boy started to walk off from the prison he lived for around five years. Otenko's physical form had disappeared a few weeks later the door was shut, seeing how the sunflower wasn't getting any sunlight. But the one who actually followed him besides Dainn was Violet's little cat, Nero, who mewed like agreeing with Dainn.

"Researching, of course.", answered with a smile. "I will go into a little trip around the world collecting stories from other vampires and dhampirs, of humans and old magic, of vampire's behaving with each Moon phase until I'm able to find the answer.", Django feasted his hands into fists, as he looked up to Spiral Tower, now a black silhouette in the night and starry sky. "I'm going to find a cure to this vampirism Sabata and I share."

"Why? What did change your mind about your brother?", said the albino. "I can't understand that sudden change of heart."

Dyango smiled, now in the present, as he killed yet another one but receiving a hard kick on his ribs before he did.

"He promised….", started Django as he turned around to see Dainn, who was now holding on his arms the little black cat. "He promised to me he would change this world for better."

And he now, in the present, strongly believes that the promise was slowly, but surely, becoming true.


	33. Chapter 33

Hello guys, another chapter has come to you! I want you to ask something; someone told me that at the end of chapter 28 and at the begining of chapter 29 there seems to be a "void plot" or something like that, since chapter 28 ends with Dumas flying back to the Guild and chapter 29 starts with Lucian and Dyango telling the past, this someone saying that there isn't anything that tells what happened with Dumas inbetween. I though it was quiet obvious that Dumas wouldn't be want to be next to Rymer after what happened and would want to stay away from him. What do you guys think of it?

Thanks to Zohaku for the review! And thank you guyst for keeping up with me so far!! *loves you*

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33

"We are not going to endure anymore if we keep it like this.", said Kay to Ernest, watching from behind the crumbled house.

The tanned man knew it, knew it too well. His Dragoon was almost out of energy and, being in the night, it was going to be impossible to recharge it soon. He sighed, peeping a few seconds to see that the gunslingers were walking forwards, searching in all possible hiding places and shooting when they saw something move in the shadows. Ernest didn't know if the rest of the humans was still alive (he hoped so), but with the vampires that Oyan suddenly recruited it was hard to think that way. He didn't know what to do right now.

"Hey, Ernest, how are you?", asked Dumas when he appeared next to them. His clothes were burn and had bullet holes. Seemed that he got hit several times but thanks to his Casket Armor, he survived. Yet he still had his child shape, with the bullet in his shoulder.

"My mind's blank, can't think.", replied. "Why don't you take off the bullet?"

"I can't.", said Dumas. "Each time I dig my fingers in the injury I get an electrical shock and oblige me to take off my hand."

"Where is Nish?", asked Kay this time.

"With the humans, at last the ones that managed to survive. They are only five of them already, and I don't know how many vampires we have left.", the horned boy explained. "Froggy lost his machine, Lucian's doing what he can but I have no idea where are his brother and that shape shifter."

"Damnit!!", cursed Ernest.

They have to leave. It was the only option left, but part of him, a very heavy part of him didn't want to. He wanted to stay and keep fighting until his gun was broken. He had made so many promises, but right now he was feeling like he couldn't keep them. He felt like he was failing to everyone especially to his closest friends. He sighed again and groaned. There should be something he could do right now.

"We have to leave, there is anything we can do.", said Kay to Dumas, both of them were talking while Ernest was deep inside his thoughts. "If we stay, we will be all dead."

"No, we can't, we have to defeat them now!", exclaimed the tanned man.

"What?", said Dumas, looking at him as he stood up. "You can't be serious! It's suicide!"

"We have to! Otherwise, they others at the hideout will be killed once they are found out!"

"We will too if we don't leave! And if we die, who will protect them?", added Kay, grabbing Ernest's arms and shoving him to the ground right when a solar bullet passed the place where he had stood. "If you want to, then call the vampires back in the Vambery, they will be a great help here."

"No, no. The Terrennials aren't that strong if a group of vampires goes to the Vambery and surprise them."

"Don't underestimate them, human.", growled Dumas when Ernest said that. He knew damn well how strong Perrault was without his help. "And Kay's right; we can't do this without them, they are too many and too powerful for us right now. We need their help."

"No!", shouted Ernest, gripping his Dragoon with force.

"What the fuck? Why are you so stubborn in a moment like this?!", cried Kay angered. "You aren't like this, so reckless and impulsive!"

"I have to do this by myself! I can't disappoint others!", replied the man. They knew the gunslingers were coming close, but it wasn't their biggest problem.

"Eleven years ago you wouldn't give a fuck about it!", shouted Dumas, remembering the war he had with him and the local Guild.

"If you could beat the fuck out of us with only five vampires, including yourself, (and we were more than Oyan's army), then why can't we?!", he wasn't really thinking anymore, he was being guided by his emotions and passions.

"What's the point?!", screamed back the vampire. "This isn't like eleven years ago; they got stronger weapons that us, they are far too many, with different weakness!", Ernest growled and Dumas was losing his patient with him.

"Trinity didn't step backwards even in a situation like this, why should we?!", the tanned man shouted again.

"Because he had a fucking plan, not like us that just did what we thought it was the best at the moment! Fuck!"

A sudden grenade landed next to them. The three of them got on their feet and run away from it, receiving several hits from the solar bullets from the gunslingers that started to shot away when they stood up and stand on their sight.

"It doesn't matter right now what did Trinity in the past!", said Dumas to Ernest. "Because he is not going to help us now, we can only rely on you!"

The tanned man gripped his teeth. It was too much pressure. He hadn't felt like this never, not four years ago, not eleven years ago. He didn't fight against the strongest in the army, he was always behind the leader, fighting. There, he felt safe, knowing he was being protected by someone he truly trusted. The first time it was Trinity, the second time it was Lucian, but now… he had no one. He was the one in front of the army, in a place where Trinity used to be, from a place Ernest used to see from behind, admiring.

The death of Trinity made his confidence fall, and for some time, he refused to fight or work in the Guild, leaving most of the paperwork or Guild work to Kay and the recently haired Bea. But that stage didn't last too long like he wished. He had become the Guild's leader after Trinity's dead and he had someone like him that was looking up to him, admiring him and wanting to be like him. Ernest couldn't disappoint Aaron like that. Yet the boy didn't fell the death of his father too much like Ernest and Kay did, since the boy, even when Trinity complained a lot about that, didn't spend too much time with him, so he and Aaron never developed a strong relationship with each other. To Aaron, Trinity was family, but like a long, lost relative.

Ernest never liked the leader's spot. He always felt the pressure, the stress. He hated each minute of it, but took it because he couldn't just end up what Trinity so desperately tried to do. He owned him for taking care of him after his family died in the war against the vampires. It was his duty, but sometimes it was just too much for him to handle, and sometimes he would call Kay and tell him to do the work because he was too tired to do it. And Ernest was feeling it right now. He wanted to leave; he wanted to run away from it, he didn't want to do this anymore. Yet he did, he felt he belonged there, on the battle field, with his hands grabbing the weapon, aiming and shooting. He sighed.

Dumas was right, Kay was right. Trinity would have of slapped him if he ever knows how he had been acting. And he smiled. Ernest smiled at the thought of Trinity screaming his lungs out and arguing with him like he did years ago when they didn't agree on something.

He was being a coward, scared of facing his own destiny and duty as the Guild leader.

"Dumas, how can we contact those in the Vambery?", asked finally.

Dumas and Kay smiled.

"I can reach Perrault by telephaty.", explained the horned boy. "Lucian and Nero aren't the only ones that are conected that deeply."

"Then do your thing.", said Ernest as he charged up the Dragoon to shot. "Kay and I will entretain them as you talk with her, alright?"

Both men run away from the safety of the building as they towards the north gunslingers, pointing up their weapons and shooting like mad. Ernest expierenced the same emotions he did when he and the rest infiltred, along wiht Bea and other members of the Guild, the Byron, to help Lucian and Aaron through the annoying traps Polidori had set for them. But something was different this time. He wasn't fighting against monsters like that time; he was fighting against other humans that had a different oppinion against vampires, which had other goals in mind. Ernest didn't fight against Dumas or Polidori directly like he had wished, he had to stay back once more and see from behind. He felt relieved and happy to, finally, feel what Trinity felt in that war eleven years ago.

Dumas crawled away from the fight to a safer spot. He could hear the bullets hitting the stoned floor and the man's cursing, and some bones breaking too. He chuckled at the sole idea of Ernest or Kay or both crushing their enemy's bones with their weapons.

The horned one finally found a place where he could hide, at last from the gunslingers. He prayed that no vampire would find him while he talked with his Terrennial. Well, it wasn't that often he did that, since Perrault was always glued at his side. Thin and black treads appeared from his head that vanished from the tip into the air, as his mind slowly drifted away and tried to find Perrault's one.

Since his power traveled faster in the shadows, it didn't take too long to reach Perrault. The lila cat was reunited with the rest of the Terrennials when she felt another foce trying to reach her and, without saying anything, she closed her eyes, her wings folded on her body and her usually active tail fell down on the floor.

Nero was the first one in noticing. The rest followed his gaze when Perrault suddenly got too quiet for her own good, and waited in silence. The black cat could feel Dumas' energy since, after all, he had been part of Perrault.

"What's happening?", murmured Ursula to Nero.

"Dumas is talking with her.", at the realization, everyone knew the ones in the battle field were in problems.

No one say anything the minute or so Perrault remained silent. When she opened her eyes, they reflected worry and fear. Her wings twiched nervously and her tail rose in the air.

"They need reinforcements.", she stated. "We need to discuss who are going and who are staying here, as we can't reveal our hidding spot to the vampires."

"Bea isn't here, as that shape shifter had kidnaped her.", said Alexander. He flapped his wings and hummed below his breath. "Besides her, no one else was in charge here."

"Which means?", said Ezra almost sarcastically.

"Us as Terrennials will all want to go and beat the crap out of those vampires, not really caring for those who stay here. Having a human in charge would make us recapacite...", said Alexander. "Remember how we discussed Perrault's first actions when we were climbing up the Dark Castle; we weren't exactly caring about Dumas in those moments, but trying to convice Perrault she was wrong."

Everyone agreed silently.

"But then to whom are we going to draw upon?", asked Tove.

"There's Aaron...", shyly said Toasty to the others.

"He doesn't have expierence!", immediately Ezra complained. "He doesn't know the vampire's full potential in battle, like us that were slaved by them!"

"Maybe that's why we should.", said Alexander. "We only know they power in the offensive, but maybe Aaron will know their defense since he had to battle from the other side."

Ezra grunted and looked away.

"I don't agree.", was her last comment.

"I will talk with him while all of you discuss...", whispered Perrault as she flew away. She had her doubts, much like Ezra, but right now the boy was all they had.

"Why wouldn't you?", kept Ursula. "It is true he is young and hadn't been in the position of leader before, but if you don't give it a try you will never know."

"I don't exactly like young people going like they had gone through lot of things.", replied the artic fox.

"Just because you are older doesn't mean you are wiser.", said Alexander, receiving a dead glare from Ezra. "From the refugees here, the one with most expierence in battling, tactics and such is Aaron. The vampires will act on their own way if we let them have the control. It's not that I don't trust them, but their egoist feeling it's ten times bigger than humas, so they would most likely want to flee rather than help."

Ezra remained silent, too angry to complain about the truth of Alexander's words, and twitched her tails in sign of agreement.

Aaron grouped with the Terrennials after receiving Perrault's message. They all sat on the floor and looked at the boy who was visible nervous about the whole situation. It was stressful enough to deal with the ones in the Vambery, but now having to lead this mission was even worst. One because he lacked expierence there, and second, because they didn't really gives him much more information that Perrault did. When he said this, Ezra started to complain once more about how it was useless to ask him to do this, to what Aaron replied:

"Well then, tell me Ezra, will you be able to comand a reinforcement missions without knowing where your allies and enemies are? Will you be able to go inside the battle field with your eyes closed?", he didn't mean to sound harsh, but he was extremely tired of how they were underestimating him.

And the ice Terrennial felt silent again.

He asked to Nero and Perrault to conect with Lucian and Dumas and asks them a detailed map of the surroundings. Since they were that conected, the mental images were easy task to them, so Aaron thought of using them as a small guide after putting them on a paper. Then, he thought who would acompany him and who would stay in the Vambery. There were seven Terrennials, four powerful vampires with Casket Armors, and minor vampires as well. He didn't know for sure how strong or how well they fought, but Rymer said that some of them were "good". Aaron would ask him later who were them to consider going to battle with.

It took some mitues to Nero and Perrault reaches their vampire companions and to have the map he needed. Very messy, Aaron sketched the important things to note on the paper, as his brain started to work on a way to surprise the enemy. It would be hard seeing how vampires and werewolves were extremely sensitive with their smell and hearing.

"The Casket Armors have the same scent as vampires.", explained Stoker when he and the other vampires were reunited with Aaron and the Terrennials. "The other vampires will not really detect us, but the werewolves will be a problem."

"I don't think so.", replied Virginia. "They will care less what happens to the vampires in Oyan's army as long as they die, so I don't think they will go and tell the noble leader that they have company."

"Is that bad the hate between you and the werewolves?", asked Aaron.

"It's much more worst than the hatred between humans and monster in general.", added Edgar.

"Why?", said the boy.

"Some creatures don't see that we are merely trying to survive, like everyone else.", said Rymer. "Vampires need very little blood to live, even a few drops can satisfy our hunger, we would sneak inside the human's houses to feed, but we wouldn't drain them from all the blood. After all, if humans disappear, so would we."

"While it's true that we have slaved humans, but only because they started hunting and killing us first.", added Stoker. "We needed a way to defend us, yet it wasn't exactly the best one, but seemed so in the moment the hunting started."

"But you can't deny the fact that some of you goes... out of hand when feeding.", said Aaron.

"Sadly but true, but most of them are newborn vampires that can't control they hunger. Normally, vampires are grouped in packs much like normal wolves and werewolves, because it's easier for the young ones control their impulses when they have someone older than them to act as a guide.", explained Virginia. "But with the sudden rage towards humans with the killing, these packs started to fell appart and the young ones would soon left and 'revenge' other comrades that were killed by humans."

"Some other packs, however, don't like humans at all.", said Rymer. "They see them as just food or even less than that, like some sort of entreteinment before feeding from them."

"As far I know werewolves were also slaved by humans, why wouldn't they hate us too?"

Edgard sighed.

"Because the humans that slaved werewolves used them primarly to kill us."

Aaron decided to drop the subject right there, seeing the feeling in the vampire's eyes while talking about how they race was being hunted down like they were some kind of illness. Instead, he focused in deciding what to do next when he and the others would arrive to the battle.

Rymer told him who were the vampires that seemed to be good at battle, and decided to bring them with him. Then, he decided who would go with him from the Terrennials; Nero and Perrault would be very helpful since they would work out if they were other vampires in his side, Alexander was more than enough by himself and Ezra was going to pilot Stoker's Casket Armor seeing how he decided that Stoker, Rymer, Ursula and Tove stays.

"Wait, why do I have to stay?", complained Ursula. "I can take care of the enemy very well!!"

"You are weakened in power after reviving me. Besides, I would hate having to stress out Dumas more than he already is with me being alive and all...", replied Rymer to Ursula, who had to agree grudgingly.

"Then that means that we are going too?", asked Virginia, to which Aaron nodded. Both she and her brother criend in joy.

Toasty would go too, seeing that he had a very effectiveness against vampires, and could refill the gunslinger's weapons when they run out of energy. The only problem was actually going to the field. Like Stoker said, the vampires wouldn't notice them by smell, but the huge Casket Armor of Stoker had some troubles with the noises it does while speeding up. It could also go unnoticed in the heat of the battle, but seeing that by now Ernest's group was highly reduced, the werewolves and vampires would notice it. Aaron sighed upon that realization, but they didn't have a choice.

After talking with the rest of the group that was staying, they made all preparations before going. Aaron took two other guns besides his Knight; Bomber and Witch. They would come handy, especially the tracking missiles. The explosive shots from the Bomber deal huge damages and could blow up everything in its range. Aaron was sure he was going to blow up at last an arm or a leg from the enemy. He giggled at the idea.

While waited for the others, he walked to one of the many windows from the Vambery. He stood there, watching the beautiful view of the East Lands, and far from that. He looked at his left hand, turning it back and forth, watching his palm and back of it. He took off the glove and a purple vapor started to come from it, slowly turning into threads of Dark Matter until it completely covered his hand. But in matter of seconds, all that energy morphed and chaged form. Now, it was a thin and long needle, standing right on the center of his hand, spinning as he looked at it. It still felt odd and it felt pretty unreal. He never imagined controling such powers...

"Are you ready?", came Edgar's voice.

Aaron jumped, startled, and lost control of the needle. It pierced his hand in a painfull way and the boy moaned, cluching his hand.

"What happened?", asked Edgar upon realizing what Aaron was doing. He came closer and laughed, taking the needle out. "Be careful with this."

"I thought vampires were immune to their own power.", he whinced again in pain.

"If that was true, then our own attacks wouldn't hurt us if they are turned against us, which isn't the case.", explained. "We are merely immune to our own and other's curse, or poison."

"Poison?", the boy shivered when, slowly, the small stich started to close to his surprise.

"Some have poison in their fangs, like snakes and spiders, but the only ones I know are from the nobility.", he laughed again upon seeing his face. "It's normal, silly. After all, you share his powers and Dark Matter."

Aaron looked again at his hand, where only a small, red circle was seen from where the needle had stich. Not even the small drops of blood were seen anymore. Lucian hand't been feeding from him from the last few days, yet when they had that encounter in the woods before going to battle, Aaron felt Lucian's sharp fangs on his heated skin, and he knew he had opened wounds with it, but didn't know if Lucian actually drank his blood and, at the same time, poured his Dark Matter inside. He was getting a bit scared about it. While he wanted it, at the same time he was scared at the idea of transforming. He just hoped he would be though and would endure the loss of his human self for ever.

Aaron sighed and didn't think about that as he climbed inside the crab machine of Stoker along with Ezra, who was piloting. Inside, Hër and the female vampire that was with Bea, Lobreta, was inside too. Both vampires bowed and smiled to Aaron when he got inside and the cabine shut closed.

"Wait... didn't you tell me you couldn't pilot it?", said Aaron as the machine started to move.

"Because Stoker wasn't alive at the moment.", explained Ezra.

"I don't get it."

"Casket Armors are very attached to their masters, meaning that the only way to activate it, like this case, is only if it feels the living presence of its owner.", said the Terrennial as she conduced the huge machine towards an elevator that was especially designed for it. "As long as Stoker is alive, I, you, Lucian, Dumas or anyone can control his Casket Armor."

The cabine was actually a lot bigger than he thought the first time he saw it, something it shouldn't surprise him seeing how... big was Stoker.

"Leader, how are we going to go in?", asked Lobreta. Aaron got surprised that she was referring to him as their leader. "I mean... after what you told us, isn't actually dangerous from any angle?"

Aaron helped himself and laughed loudly.

"Then you don't really know what this machine can do."

Ezra grinned in agreement to the silent plan that Aaron was thinking of. Maybe she got wrong at saying that Aaron was inexperienced.

At the two sides of the crab machine, Edgar and Virginia were running with their own casket armors, having inside some of the Terrennials and two other vampires in each. They weren't that much, but they put their hopes on Stoker's big one.

They stopped a few kilometers away from Acuna. Aaron took out the piece of paper where he drew the sketched map and told them that, from either way, the enemy would notice them due to the intense noise. Instead of just doing a sneak attack they were going straight forwards. Being the enemy so disperse it would do nothing if they wanted to do it that way.

The vampires and the Terrennials could notice Aaron was nervous. He wasn't trembling, but he was being a bit clumsy with his words and orders. Though every one understood what to do, they were concerned about the boy too, thinking if he was going to be alright once they split in three different groups. The cheerful voice of Alice broke the suddenly intense atmosphere. It came from inside Stoker's machine and, in some swift movements, Aaron was inside along with Ezra.

"Yo, Aaron!! How are you?", said the always smiling bunny girl to the boy. She had a tired look in contrast with her joyful spirit in those moments.

"How are you doing this Alice?", asked Aaron.

"It's easy to me, a hacker!", replied with a big grin. "Anyway, I wanted to say that there is a group coming from the north of Acuna…", she typed fast on the keyboard in front of her and a small window appeared, blocking the video transmission of her and showing a map with a moving dot. "They are quiet the number."

Aaron sighed, with a knot in his throat. His hand started to tremble and tried to ignore it.

"No, don't worry, silly!", said Alice with a smile after closing the window. "They are allies."

"Allies?", repeated Ezra. The other Terrennials and vampires were now surrounding the machine, getting all the information.

"Yeah. They had some problems because they lived far away from our lands, but they managed to go through thanks to me, of course!!", she grinned again. "Try not getting in their way, they have heavy armament."

"Who are they?", asked Virginia.

"They're canid.", answered Alice. "I think they are relatives to Kay…"

Aaron smiled. After all, blood always calls back when family is in danger.

Neschume was happy, very happy. Their number didn't got down because he was using the corpses of the already dead north gunslingers as Ghoul soldiers. It was funny to see them walking in their own pace but aiming like professional sharp shooters. But the game was getting boring. He couldn't find his target, Lucian, and the surviving ones were hiding very well. This hunting was getting old, and Neschume didn't have much more time to keep going like this. In a few hours the Sun would raise, and he had to speed up his plan. He didn't fear the Sun or its strong light, but it was annoying.

He moaned in pain when someone hit him from behind. He cursed himself for being careless and turned around, grinning when he saw Lucian gripping his teeth and Gun del Hell with his left hand. Neschume noticed that his own armor was ripped apart with the shot from the dark gun. But he didn't care. The bullet inside his body was restraining most of his powers so, to Neschume, it was going to be very easy to finish this.

He moved swiftly, pouring his Dark Matter around him like a veil as he came closer to his target, which leaps quickly from his spot when Neschume decided to attack, leaving a nice crater on the stoned floor. The noble leap too and grabbed Lucian's leg, pulling him towards his body but receiving a hard elbow hit on his face. But the hit didn't stop Neschume from planting his hand on Lucian's chest. Lucian panicked and, struggling, got free from the noble's grasp.

"Oh, damn you…", mumbled Neschume but grinning at seeing Lucian's scared face as he touched his aching chest. "I just barely put my hand on you…"

Even when it was a simple touch, Lucian could feel how Neschume managed to move the needle some millimeters closer to his back. Vanargandr was paying close attention to this, and decided to play against Lucian for the first time in a long time.

Neschume run towards him again, this time with both of his hands turning black and then turning into blades that cut the air around him, sending sonic booms to Lucian that made his ears explode. Lucian jumped backwards when Neschume reached out a second time, but tripped over his own feet and fell, noticing the strange and annoying buzz in his ears. He was dizzy and he couldn't make the floor and the entire city stop moving in circles. He hated being so helpless.

Lucian groaned in pain when Neschume took him by his ankles to slam him on the floor again, dealing huge damage to his now smaller body. The noble stopped, grinning and watching him trying to stand up again.

"Now, now….", mumbled the noble, putting a feet on Lucian's head. "I heard you like being humiliated.", he chuckled, taking a strange metal collar from under his casket armor. Lucian struggled when he smelled the very familiar scent from the crosses that once held sealed Vanargandr in Mahoroba.

"Not by the ones like you…", spat with venom in his voice Lucian, shivering when Neschume put the piece of metal against his right cheek. Inside him, Vanargandr was screaming in agony and anger as he remembered how Lucian's tribe sealed him. "Ugh….", groaned as he felt his chest ache again.

"Mm…", mumbled Neschume. He put the collar around Lucian's neck and pushed him straight up. "It's time…", whispered. The collar restricted the vampire's power and movements, so Lucian was right now like a doll waiting for his master's orders. "Okay, say good bye to everything you have known, Moon Beauty."

The hand of the noble pressed hard on Lucian's chest as it poured with strong energy. Lucian moaned in pain, feeling the needle move and fight against the energy trying to take it out.

The metallic sound the needle made when it fell on the floor sent shivers running down Dyango's and Nidhoggr's spine. They froze in fear, utter fear, as they knew exactly what was going to happen. Dainn was shaking by now, and Dumas couldn't understand their reaction since he didn't know. Nish came to them and Hel sighed, feeling a hard knot in her throat.

"We are fucked…", mumbled Dyango, his hands trembling even when he had feasted them into fists.

Dyango suddenly lost all will to fight and all will of living. He had whished that none of this had happened to his brother, he knew Lucian wouldn't endure the change and the possession once Vanargandr starts taking his body slowly. Even if the reinforcements came, it would be too late. The change started and there was no turning back now.

"We still have a chance Django, don't screw it right now!", screamed Dainn, using the boy's real name since they came to the East Lands.

"Right on, Shape Shifter.", said Nish smiling, and hearing in the distance the annoying sound that made Stoker's casket armor as it run closer to the fight, and the group coming from the north of Acuna.

They still had a chance but very low possibilities of making it happen.


	34. Chapter 34

Haha, I just realized I haven't updated in November. I'm so sorry… XD But I'm getting a bit side-tracked from this story with other things I want to write for the ending (I'm already thinking in the end of the story without resolving the war first, yay, go me!!), and other stuff since I'm working with my mum in some business that keeps my mind in other things but the story. ; ; Chapter 35 will be come late if this keeps it up…

Anyway, thanks to Valecha and Zohaku for their reviews, you guys made me remember I didn't upload anything in the last month! So here you have chapter 34 without anymore delays.

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34

Kay dragged Ernest to a safer spot, behind another crumbled building. He ripped his own yellow uniform and tied it around the tanned man's right arm. It was a bad idea to come out of the blue like that. The energy from their weapons was out a few seconds after they left Dumas to talk with Perrault. Upon the realization, Ernest and Kay looked at each other before fighting with their fists. It was also a bad idea. Several bullets reached them, burning their skin with third degree burns, but none of them really felt them due to the high levels of adrenalin rushing in their bodies.

They weren't the only ones that were running out of energy too. The north gunslingers were out of it, most of them, so it was actually two against twenty with only bare hands. Kay found it lightly fun since he hadn't fought that way in years, but Ernest was an amateur and got damaged very easily. If it wasn't for his Dragoon, he would be dead by now for how much blood he lost from his wounds. Lucky to them, Dumas returned after two minutes and managed to kill the gunslingers that were treating them. Then, he left the fight in search for his partner and to see how actually everything was going.

Kay didn't have to guess to know how things were. He knew that they were this close to give up and throw the towel, and that thinking made him extremely angry. He turned to Ernest when he moaned in pain, and shushed him with soft words as he petted his shoulder. Kay had to admit that, after that moment of weakness Ernest had, he found new strength to carry on. The memory of him, Ernest, Sartana and Trinity running like crazy kamikazes towards the enemy made Kay give everything of him, to protect his home and the people he cared about. The years he lived in the streets told him so many things... When he still was in his canid family, he had all what he wished when he was a brat and, when his father forbids him to enter his home again, Kay saw what poor people looked alike, what they had to do to survive. It was a cruel world, even crueler than his, and he had to adapt to it if he wanted to live for the next day.

He wanted to win so, even the poor, had somewhere to live, even if it was in the streets. Because after all, streets weren't that bad like most people thinks.

"What's that...?", asked Ernest in a horsed voice. He had a nice, black right eye and several other cuts and bruises in his body.

"What's what?", said Kay.

"That noise..."

Kay grunted but shut up and perked his ears upwards, moving them around, hearing a faint screeching noise coming to Acuna. But that was not all...

"No fucking way...", he whispered, his eyes wide open.

Neschume grinned as he, with the needle in his hand, watched how Lucian was slowly giving up his body to Vanargandr, the Beast of Destruction. Just by watching Neschume knew Lucian was in lot of pain; the muscles were twitching constantly, his wide eyes were watering already, his teeth were clenched so hard the noble thought he would either bit his tongue off or break a few of his teeth. The casket armor started to melt away from Lucian's body, leaving his pale skin shining under the starry sky. But as the armor melted away, his bones underneath started to move, piercing the skin but not making it bleed.

Lucian screamed in pain when his clavicles ripped the skin and appeared above it, clean and white, not sign of blood at all. The vampire panted hard, but Vanargandr didn't leave him time to recover as his arms started to ache like hell. He bit his bottom lip, as he watched how his fingers started to lose their skin. Lucian screamed again when the only thing he saw was his bones, his white bones morphing into deadly, long and sharp claws. His skin and muscle disappeared some centimeters below his elbows. He wasn't bleeding at all, and that was Vanargandr's doing. The power of the beast was transforming Lucian's vampire body into something more fitting to the beast. The next thing he knew was that his legs were undergoing the same process as his arms. His feet, once the bone exposed, they turned into claws too. Said claws dug into the floor beneath as his ribs started to pierce the skin from his torso.

"It hurts so much...", whispered Lucian to no one in particular as he cried rivers of tears.

Neschume laughed when he heard him whine like that.

"Oh please, are you going to tell me you aren't at least enjoying it?", he asked as he played with the needle in his fingers. "You wouldn't call yourself a truly masochist if you weren't feeling pleasure with this."

But Lucian only moaned in pain again.

From his lower back the long and bony tail shot forwards, this time longer, with a blade shaped like a scythe, big and deadly. Some of his hip bones ripped the skin there too, but only lightly. Two bony wings shot from his back, but they weren't like normal wings, they actually were Vanargandr's hands with membranes between the skull fingers. The casket armor melted completely now except for a crotch armor that covered him down there, completely made of bone too.

A single, red eye appeared in his forehead, excitedly looking around. Lucian screamed again when some weird and black runes appeared on his skin as his eyes started to close against his will.

"Please....", Neschume heard Lucian whisper. "Don't hurt him....", pleaded Lucian. Neschume heard a low growl coming from the vampire's throat in response. "I'm begging you! I beg you not to harm him....Ugh!", cried in pain as his eyes were almost closed. A second growl was heard, but this time it was softer, almost like a purr. Lucian smiled, sighing, closing his eyes. "Thank you."

Neschume wasn't sure what happened in reality, since he didn't know if those growls were from Lucian or Vanargandr answering to Lucian's pleads.

He only knew several things from that exact moment the beast got control of his host's body.

One, that the bony tail almost killed him if he hadn't move from his spot; two, he got attacked from behind by the enemy and the sudden surprise made him drop the needle which Nero, in his beast form, took in his mouth as he flew away at high speed and three, he saw from the tip of his eye a group of Lizardmen being ridded by canid like creatures. All of this happened at almost the same time, and Neschume in between had a few seconds to escape from the first blow from the new enemy.

He ignored them as he caught a glimpse of Nero's Dark Matter and followed him, leaving Lucian behind as he chased the Dark Terrennial to gather the needle back. He actually needed if he wanted to easily control Vanargandr, yet he didn't really care what the young vampire did with Acuna or the planet. If with his rampage killed every single human and other life form, Neschume would be more than happy. But right now he had to stay alive or he wouldn't be able to see that fantastic future.

Vanargandr turned around, feeling the resistance of Lucian's will when he did so thanks to the collar, but with a few shocks to that will he gained control over the body again. With a bit of struggle, he managed to take the collar off and drop it aside. He grinned, watching how the group of Lizardmen was now surrounding him. He moved the wings a little, receiving a nervous answer from the monsters, which agitated their tails and growled under their breath. Their riders were the same race as Kay; all of them had canid features but with a human shaped body. There was one with a scar over his left eye, which was missing, and Vanargandr immediately knew it was the leader. He turned around to see him and dedicated him a grin as his tail played dangerously in the air.

The leader of that group was very tall and his fur was a dark brown color with husky and Sheppard traits. He had a lighter belly fur and his ears were straight up, also scarred and bitten. His sharp eye was a dark brown color too and, in closer looks, the vampire noticed more scars marking his body, meaning he had been a warrior for quiet a long time. He had simple clothing but an armor that seemed to be rough and strong. He also had belts on his chest, but Vanargandr couldn't tell what type of weapons the canid had.

The hands of the leader grasped tight the leashes of the beast and tugged them softly. The Lizardman growled again, whipping its tail violently. The rest did the same, and Vanargandr already felt them prepare to attack. His wings twitched, crackling the knuckles before roaring and dodging the first tackle of a Lizardman at his right. He received more attacks from the spiked balls they used and one of them hit him on his left wing, which reacted instinctively with a hard hit when the Lizardman got too close to him. Vanargandr swung his tail and trapped with it the chains attached to the spike balls of several Lizarmen, pulling and making them fall along with their riders.

Vanargandr roared and launched to them, killing the beasts while he received the solar bullets and daggers from their riders that managed to jump away before the attack. The Beast growled and moved swiftly, following those who managed to escape, with his claws high in the air, Vanargandr grabbed the nearest one and sank his fangs on the thick neck, pouring rivers of blood that soaked his almost naked form and formed crimson pools beneath him. He opened his mouth and let the body fall on the floor as he launched towards the group in front of him, while the other half came from behind, swinging their spiked balls to him.

The hit of those heavy balls was very painful, and Vanargandr groaned in pain when two of them hit his back, scratching the skin and making it bleed. Though it wasn't a severe wound, it ached and that annoyed the Beast. He spun around and hit the floor with his bony hands, creating a massive shake that obliged the Lizarmen to stop all their actions, while their riders became lightly dizzy because of the shock waves.

In the space of time that Vanargandr had before the beasts and their riders recovered, he managed to slaughter most of them with his bone tail, moving it like a whip and snapping in halves the canids that were fighting against him, barely moving from where he was standing. The only ones that were 'lucky' to get unhurt were the ones out of the tail's reach. Vanargandr felt a certain energy running under the floor of Acuna and that got him more interested that his current enemies, the ones he abandoned when he flew away from the fight.

The leader, who was still a bit off from the shock waves, gave a deep sigh and perked his ears. The beast sighed with him.

"Did you find them?", asked as he turned around when another member of his group just dashed in with her beast. She was rather short, human, around the age of eighteen, with white skin and a funny dark pink hair and lighter pink eyes. She was wearing a simple pair of pants with rough boots and an orange hooded jacket with a black pattern in the shape of a question mark. On her right arm, even so, there was a strange artifact with glowing runes that seemed to be a metal gauntlet with some sort of magic.

"I'm having a bad time with connections lately, Gunda.", explained. "I can't seem to see them in the map, nor sense their presence."

"Do you think we arrived late?", asked Gunda.

"No, we have time, but it seem that some issues had happened that I weren't able to see.", a bipping interrupted her and she lifted a small device with the current map with several blinking dots on it. "Oh, hey! It's working! It's picking up the presence of one of out targets, according to Alice.", then, she frowned. "And it belongs to Lucian… Did he come here by any chance?"

Gunda perked his ears again and hummed.

"Not really, but we did fight against a strange creature with dark powers, but I doubt it was him."

"Augh, damn, sometimes I hate grandma's strange inventions."

"Hoshii, go with your group and find Kay as fast as you can.", told the canid to the girl as he pulled the leash on his beast. "I will go with the ones that I still have all over Acuna and find the gunslingers."

"Alrighty~!!", answered in a cheerful tone Hoshii as she put away the map device. "Where should we meet later?"

"Send me a message when you found Kay and the others. I will try to get to you as fast as I can.", ordered before walking away with the few that survived to Vanargandr's play.

Said Beast was now near the frontier with the immense desert just a few kilometers away from Acuna. He had picked up a lot of energies coming from underground, and that intrigued him. That part of Acuna was still intact, as no gunslinger or vampire had come over there yet to fight, so Vanargandr had plenty of space and possibly time to work there. Chuckling under his breath, he crouched down and petted the stoned floor with his bony hands. There were souls beneath, all of them agitated and scared. And they all belonged to humans. Vanargandr hummed, his tail swinging softly in the air, thinking. Those humans were probably the ones that helped Oyan in taking over Acuna, and something inside Vanargandr twitched in anger. That was probably Lucian cursing them…

The Beast smiled and put his hands over the floor, growling in pain when his wings ripped apart from his body, growing bigger and transforming back again to bony claws, the very ones that belongs to Vanargandr. The injuries on the back stopped bleeding in seconds, as he stood up and moved his fingers, seeing how the now floating hands did the same. Snapping his knuckles, Vanargandr walked back a few steps before moving his arms and hands on the air, preparing to attack with the floating ones. He crouched down again and, with his left hand, he moved the left hand and smashed it on the stoned floor, opening a huge hole, revealing an underground path. The floating hand shot upwards and returned to its place next to Vanargandr as he moved closer. He could feel Lucian's expectation within his mind, like if he really wanted to kill the humans that made everything more difficult to them.

"Well…", he whispered as he stood on the edge of the hole. "Such a loot, eh?"

The sight before him was promising; he had numerous humans hiding from the war, like his group did back in the Vambery, using the old tunnels under Acuna, the ones that were used once for escaping from the war eleven years ago. Vanargandr's hands shivered in anticipation. He couldn't kill them all in a single hit, so he would need a bit of help.

He crouched once more and put his hands on the edge of the hole, ignoring the terrified looks he was getting from the humans that were panicking and already trying to see a way out. Most of them had fled upon his sight, but it wouldn't matter at all, since Vanargandr would most likely find them. He opened his mouth and a strange purple mist came from it, growing in seconds and covering the entire surface of the hole before disappearing.

The walls started to melt, having a liquid feeling when the humans noticed it after the mist disappeared from sight. In matter of instants, strings from them came out and morphed into strange skull demons with long tongues, completely purple and with crazy, spiral eyes. They were the most frightening thing the humans ever saw, and they were coming out from the walls and the floor equally, covering the whole place.

Most humans tried to fight them back, but since they were made of mist they couldn't harm them, yet the most scary thing was that the oozes weren't killing them like they had thought they would; no, those oozes didn't bite their head off or snap them in half with their mouths, nor they pierced their bodies with their drooling tongues. What they did with those same tongues was something more frightening; they were stealing their souls to feed from the spiritual energy, energy that went directly to Vanargandr to increase his power the more souls his oozes ate. The humans didn't suffer at all, they would lose their senses slowly and in an instant, they would be dead. And there were enough oozes to bring all the humans down and increase his power pretty much.

"One problem down…", mumbled Vanargandr to himself as his single eye roamed around. He felt Lucian's eyelids move and try to open, but the Beast lashed out his energy and kept him under control. "Now… where would be the gunslingers?", he said to himself as a new pair of bony wings shot from his back. He opened them and took flight, followed by his floating hands very closely. The humans weren't done, but his oozes would take care of that.

Over the skies, he was able to easily find his target, yet he got interested into what Aaron was doing in the war when he was strictly told to stay in the Vambery. He felt Lucian twitch once more inside his mind and Vanargandr grinned. Maybe he could pay a visit to his master's master.

Aaron was unaware that Lucian lost his body to the Beast of Destruction. No one really knew about it as they were too busy fighting with Neschume's vampires and trying to stay alive from their vicious fights. Toasty was at the boy's side always and that annoyed Aaron a bit, since he couldn't really work at his full potential. Lobreta and Hër were doing a good job at fighting against five vampires at the same time while Erza had disappeared after a group of vampires that were being leaded by Neschume's brother, Frayn. Edgar and Virginia were having their own fun, but Aaron hadn't gotten news about Dyango, Nidhoggr and Ernest, and he was starting to worry about them. But that wasn't really what concerned Aaron. A while ago he started to feel a small oppression in his chest, but he ignored it as it wasn't that annoying. Now, it was growing bit by bit, and he didn't know if he could keep on with that sudden growing pain in his chest.

He hadn't seen Oyan anywhere, and the werewolves already left that section of Acuna and didn't know where they were. Nish and Dumas were nowhere to be seen either, so he didn't know if they were ok too. There were several fights going at the same time but all of them were incommunicated since the only one that had access to Alice was Lucian and his pink phone, but Lucian wasn't there to know and tell the rest what was going on, so Aaron had to work like a blind would cross the street.

"Fuck!!", he cursed when the Witch run out of energy to fire the missiles. So instead, he hit the head of the vampire that was chasing him with the weapon and broke his skull with the intense impact of the metal. He took out the Bomber and shot a grenade towards Lobreta, who jumped away just in time as the bomb exploded and burnt the skin and flesh of the vampires fighting with her. The vampire girl smiled at the boy as she returned to the battle.

There weren't many vampires now, but those few were very strong and hard to kill. And Aaron couldn't take anymore pain from his chest now. It ached greatly, and none of the opened injuries he had were that painful. He moaned in pain and let the enemy hit him on his stomach before falling on the ground, unable to breathe at all.

He felt a hard kick on his ribs, and a soft crack. At last two or three of his ribs were broken by the hit, and he hoped that his lungs were alright. He knew that the broken ribs could pierce his lungs and make it even harder to breathe. Aaron tightened his hands on the Bomber and put the barrel on the vampire's stomach before firing. The grenade exploded and threw the boy a few feet away from the now dead vampire, but his body refused to stand up. His legs hurt now and his arms couldn't lift both guns anymore.

He panted hard, noticing strange lines running all over his arms, until he noticed with surprise that it was nothing else but his own veins getting darker and bluish. He gripped his teeth at the sudden pain in them and moaned.

"What's with your arms?", asked Hër when he noticed that Aaron wasn't moving.

"You tell me… uhg…", he moaned again, grasping both of his arms with his hands and pressing on them. "They fucking hurt…"

Hër took his left arm and examined it carefully.

"Are you releasing your Dark Matter?", asked.

"No, why?", answered the boy, clueless.

"What you are seeing is the Dark Matter running in your veins, which is strange. Normally, being you a vampire's mate, shouldn't have this, unless something happened to your mate."

The last sentence make Aaron's stomach shrink.

"If something happened to Lucian, then he is unable to control the Dark Matter in your body, preventing it from taking over you. In other words, if we can't control it soon, then there is a chance for you to become either a vampire or a ghoul.", continued Hër, dropping the boy's arm after examining it.

"Then I am the one who does things without thinking!!", screamed the boy, getting up violently even when his body protested. "I swear when I find him I will fucking kill him!!"

Hër smiled and laughed under his breath as he helped the boy out. Toasty returned to Aaron's side and recharged the Witch with his solar energy before getting into the fight again. Stoker's Casket Armour was severely damaged but still running and fighting. One of the pincers was nearly to fall over but, surprisingly, could still move. Edgar's and Virginia's armours were in same shape as Stoker's, but their limbs were alright. Lobreta had started fighting besides Alexander and both of them were doing a great job at it. But Frayn and his vampires were still on their feet, still fighting and being a pain. Being nobles and high ranked creatures, their strength and powers were superior to normal vampires like Edgard, Virginia, Lobreta and Hër, who barely could keep up with them working in teams. Even Toasty, having a high advantage to them, had troubles when fighting.

"What the fuck is that?!", the group heard someone scream.

Frayn, who was a bit shorter than his brother Neschume and with longer, black hair, turned around to lock his eyes in a transparent figure that came from the floor. Three of his vampires split from the main group and went to investigate, but Frayn recognized the misty figures that rose from the floor. So did Toasty when he stopped fighting when Frayn and his group did.

With a sigh of relief Edgar and Virginia stopped too, hearing Ezra stop his actions too when more of those strange and transparently creatures rose from the floor and stared at the vampire group, moving their long and drooling tongues around their fangs.

"They're oozes…", whispered Toasty, putting a hand on Aaron's shoulder and tightening it.

"Shit, not so hard…", complained the boy. "And what are oozes?", asked when he saw Toasty pale.

"Run.", was the single order Toasty gave them before he obliged Aaron to turn around and drag him away from the fight. "Fuck, run!!", screamed as he grabbed Alexander's hair and dragged him too.

"FUCK TOASTY!!", yelled the Wind Terrennial before he slapped the man's hand off his hair. Lobreta and Hër followed them, hearing the mechanical steps of the Casket Armors behind them. "What's the matter?!"

"Those things are going to kill us if we don't run!", yelled the Light Terrennial, turning around to see the group of vampires chasing them when they noticed their runaway.

"Can we just use Aaron's solar weapons to defeat them?", said Virginia. "After all, they are made of Dark Matter."

"No, they aren't.", answered Toasty. "And those aren't normal… creatures."

They were stopped when three of the oozes came from the floor just in front of them, wiggling their tongues out and doing weird noises with their mouth. Toasty cursed outloud and put himself before the boy, and Alexander and Ezra got the back where the vampire group was standing, equally surrounded by oozes like them.

"But they are created somehow, aren't they? Then if we just find out who's the vampire doing this, we can stop them.", said Alexander.

"It's not that easy…", said Toasty noticing how one of the oozes was getting closer to them. "This is not the work of a vampire, at all.", he answered. "The oozes, especially these ones, are made only by Vanargandr."

"Wait, what? The Beast?", exclaimed Ezra from inside the Casket Armor. "But isn't the Beast fused with Lucian?"

Then Hër was right with what he said about something happening to Lucian, thought Aaron. The boy rubbed his arms as they started to ache again, though he was more concerned by the ooze that was now millimetres away from Toasty. Behind them, the vampires were using their Dark Matter and elemental powers and weapons but nothing seem to hurt those misty figures, and they couldn't do much when they opened their mouths and launched at them.

The screams of the vampires made Aaron body shiver in fear, and the ooze in front of Toasty growled as his tongue pushed the Terrennial away with such force that wasn't logical for a ghostly creature like it. The same tongue ghosted over Aaron's face, which paled in fear, before launching to the others behind him.

Alexander gripped his teeth as he stopped the ooze's attack with his katana, filled with the Wind's power. But soon the weapon didn't do anything to the ghostly figure and had to dodge it to not end up like soulless bodies like the vampires behind them. The rest of the oozes followed the first one into the fight.

Toasty returned to Aaron's side and noticed the trembling he had, but it didn't surprise him at all. After all, the oozes feed up first on the human's emotion before feeding from the soul. He hugged the boy tightly, trying to easy his fear, but it didn't do much as Aaron jumped away from Toasty. The Terrennial sighed and was about to reach out again when two bony hands interposed between him and the boy. The oozes shivered and turned around before disappearing into the floor as the hands cracked and surrounded Aaron. Toasty stepped forward with the intention to retrieve Aaron but one of them left the boy's side to hit him and send him flying away.

"Always getting in the way…", Aaron's ears stood up upon the deep voice and, for the first time, noticed the freaking looking bony hands.

Frayn swallowed hard when he saw the bony appearance of Lucian, still with his younger body, appear in the skies and land next to the boy, swinging his tail around him carefully. It seemed that his older brother was having some troubles keeping the Beast under control and was wondering where and what Neschume was doing now. Frayn didn't know really what to do, seeing that his brother told him that he would do the entire job with Lucian and that he should fight the local gunslingers. He noticed that, finally, Stoker's Casket Armor fell into pieces after having a hard way with the oozes before they left.

"Where's the other kid?", asked as he roamed around with his single eye, not finding Dyango like he would expect. After all, the blonde man should have sensed him come. Vanargandr moved his hands and encircled the boy with them. "Where's my master's sibling?"

"Somewhere… fighting…", shyly answered Aaron, still hugging himself.

"Get away from him, Vanargandr!!", shouted Toasty afterwards, once he recovered from the hit, launching to him several glowing talismans from his hands.

The oozes blocked the Terrennial's way again, and the Beast laughed softly, eyeing how Alexander was looking at him with anger in his eyes. Interestingly, Frayn had stopped the attack to the others, and Vanargandr knew it was because he was lightly scared of him, though Vanargandr's sole interest was Aaron at that moment. He always loved mocking Lucian since the day Ratatosk offered his blood and body to him, and made fun of the boy when they were still under his command. He could feel Lucian tugging inside his mind, screaming curses against the Beast, trying to desperately gain control once more.

"Don't you recognize this form?", asked Vannargandr to Toasty. The Beast stood near his hands, giving him a good sight. "Can't you remember to whom this body once belonged?"

"Why are you here?", asked Aaron instead, when Toasty was in deep thought when the Beast asked those question. "Who are you?", his arms ached again when he saw the hands slowly move away so Vannargandr could move inside.

The Beast grinned.

"How could you know, after all?", said in a whisper as he lifted the boy's head softly. "I mean, you don't know how my master looked alike when he was a child…"

"Your master?", whispered back the boy as his arms were now hold by Vannargandr's bony hands, that were caressing the soft skin of his. Aaron was feeling light headed, and he felt the huge hands around him lift him up. "…who's your master?"

The Beast laughed softly. He couldn't but love the boy like his master did, because it was all what Lucian lacked. He nuzzled Aaron's neck and smiled with a fanged smile.

"You are very aware of the Beast sealed inside your mate's body, are you?", Aaron nodded and his eyes suddenly widened.

"…but how did you shrink his body…?", Aaron whined when the Beast took him into his arms and hugged the boy, opening his wings and, summoning his oozes again, he took him away.

"FUCK!!", yelled Toasty.

"What are we going to do now?", asked Alexander.

"I have no idea, at last I don't know what to do with them.", answered the Light Terrennial. "First of all, we have to find the others. It's a must that we are all reunited to think about something. The enemy might still hunt us down, but if the main reason for the vampires to join Oyan was to awake Vannargandr, then they will be probably going to hunt Lucian down. That gives us some time to think."

Alexander jumped on Edgar's machine and the two of them drove off to find Nish, Dumas, the gunslingers and Dyango and his servant. Nidhoggr would be a pain, since they didn't know if he was still alive.

Though he was, and was now running behind Dainn who had Nero hanging from his left shoulder. The three of them were behind Neschume's trait of energy after the vampire, which had stolen the needle from them. Nidhoggr covered the object with a thin layer of Dark Matter to simulate Lucian's body and give them more time before it faded away. Though they had to rush it up since the first sunrays were peeking above the mountains, and neither Dainn nor Nidhoggr had casket armors or an especial clothing to protect them from the Sun.

"What important thing are we part of?", asked Nidhoggr to the shape shifter while running.

"You know that he has a plan, right?", the vampire boy nodded. "It has to do with this. Since he can't personally retrieve the needle, we are doing it for him."

"Does that includes risking our lives for it?", Dainn laughed, but Nidhoggr groaned. "Honestly! I don't really want to end my life right here and in a situation like this one!"

"We are going to be fine.", the albino said. "As long as we got our hands on that needle."

Nero snorted.

"So much for being optimistic."

"I'm being realistic, which isn't the same."

Nero jumped in front of the albino and morphed into his truly human form. He was taller than the two vampire boys (probably even taller than Nish), with a lean, thin but slender body with an extremely pale skin. He had the same, red and big eyes from his beast form and the same red wings coming from his back. The same X shaped, white scar was very visible on his forehead, even when some bangs of pitch black hair fell down on his face. That hair, very long, fell near his ankles, where the tip turned white, resembling the white tip he has in his tail when he is in a cat form. Nero wears a simple, tight and deep purple legging underneath a long, sleeved robe of a crimson color. Both pieces of clothing are simple; no pattern or complicated coloring drawings. The only piece of jewel Nero had was a small, silver ring with a black oval shaped stone that was placed near the tip of his hair.

The Terrennial opened his wings and, with a strong leap, he jumped forwards and managed to tackle Neschume right when he materialized in the intersection of the street Dainn and the other were running and the main street of Acuna.

The noble vampire cursed outloud when he saw who the one above him was and, summoning his powers, he lashed out his whip to oblige Nero to step back, as Neschume holds with extremely care the needle in his left hand.

"Shit, are you crazy?!", screamed the noble as he stepped back when Nero got into his fours, hissing and growling. "Or don't you remember this little thing is quiet fragile?", said as he played with the needle between his fingers with a fair grin on his face. "You wouldn't like to see this thing shatter in pieces…"

"Neither you, because is the only way you have to control Vannargandr.", said Dainn when he and Nidhoggr arrived.

"I would care less for the needle. I have enough metal from the original Crosses to control the Beast as I please.", replied Neschume as he pressed the needle between his fingers, yet not hard enough to break it.

Nidhoggr thought how the vampire could have access to Mahoroba, since it was a sacred place that only could be accessed from the Dark Castle satellite. Or how could he even get into the Dark Castle in the first time. The seal that once Django used was probably buried or even broken, the cannon the boy used to get there was destroyed by Ratatosk himself when he got the power. From where this noble vampire got everything to get to Mahoroba? Where vampires even allowed there? Nidhoggr never knew about anyone like that before, and Ratatosk could only access into Vanargandr's chamber when Sabata was already there.

It didn't make sense to Nidhoggr. All members from the Lunar Tribe were extinct. Lucian could pass as one if he can purify the Dark Matter that ate away his natural energy, but other than him, he knew no one.

Who was helping this vampire out? Who has the same objective as this vampire?

There were a lot of people like him out there, but why come to the East Lands to start? Why Oyan also came in the first place? The East Lands would soon fade away in some years due to the latest wars that took place in. Most people in Acuna were already leaving, not to mention the ones that were trapped in New Culiacan. Why would they come but to gather the lands for themselves?

And Nidhoggr just realized it.

This wasn't a war between vampires and humans, or against believes. This wasn't a fight against right or wrong, or who's better. This was a fight between power and the juicy prize was a hell load of fertile and virgin lands to do whatever one pleased.


	35. Chapter 35

Merry Christmas and happy New Year guys. ;)

35

The East Lands were huge compared to other places, like the humid and marshy South. The South was filled with big marshes and deep jungles, it was a very hot, rainy place and not everyone seemed to get used to the heavy rains that pours in the entire week. There were a few vampires that lived there, since most vampires get burnt by water too, so it wasn't weird to not see much of that race living there. Humans were a great number but, even when there weren't vampires, the Undead roamed in each corner, and the humans has to constantly fight against them. The West Lands were quiet arid, low humidity and high temperatures. They were basically a desert as no rains seemed to ever pour in the hot sands, meaning the Sun would always stay out, so it would be normal that vampires didn't want to live there. Surprisingly, there were a few nests of vampires living in the deserts thanks to devices similar to the Casket Armors. The problem with the West Lands, in opposing to the rest of the lands, was the lack of food. The vampires were forced to feed from the animals instead of humans, and when a group of humans decided to cross it was like an oasis in the middle of the heat.

The North Lands were rich, much like the East Lands. They were placed nearly in the same latitude and longitude, meaning they both shared a same weather condition, unlike the West and South lands. The North Lands were as big as the East Lands, but quiet shorter if compared with the massive desert from the West Lands. The people living there were prosper and had been living like that for centuries. The Undeading was present like in any other place, but was more controlled thanks to the amount of hunters living there, but after Ratatosk's first attack to the North Lands and increasing the number of Undeads it started to get harder and harder to live, as the foil was slowly being corrupted and the plants started to die, preventing the humans to feed correctly. This started inner civilian fights until the creation of the local Guild. The gunslingers were called when fights between neighbours starts and where the ones that tried to give peace to the chaos started by Ratatosk. Everyone knew that the foil would eventually not be able to give anymore plants to feed from, so the people demanded the Guild to find a solution for it, and so they started to find empty lands where they could travel.

The East Lands were going under a big change after Ratatosk finally took control of Vanargandr. He smashed down Istrakan and San Miguel and built new cities over them, covering everything that once belonged to the Humans and forcing them to hide underground, but not being able to get away from him as he soon raised huge walls around the cities and underneath to prevent them to run away. He created different places for his most powerful vampires to live and control a portion of the East Lands, to keep everything like Ratatosk wanted and to have places where he could go out and have some 'fun' while hunting down humans. Even though the Undeading, the foil from the East Lands seemed to be greater than the rest, as the Solar Children had stepped there a lot of times and that seemed get the lands more fertile. Other source for that fertile land was the once great Solar Tree which, even when it died long ago, the roots were still making the foil fertile.

A lot of people from different lands came here because they knew that with a little piece of land they could do practically everything; from building their own house to even grow vegetables and other fruits from it. This fertility gave Ratatosk a lot of problems when he ascended to the power. People wanted to gain control of the East Lands, and Ratatosk's most important subject in his agenda was to keep in line to those people that wanted to steal his territory. Once he was killed, Dumas took all the responsibilities and had a better way to keep them away. Instead of just kicking them out like Ratatosk did, he simple sent his vampires to kill them. This way, the attacks ceased a lot.

But there were people that didn't give up.

When Nidhoggr started to work for Oyan, he thought that the only thing that the auburn haired man wanted was to kill the vampires and free the land from the Undeads, like he had been spreading all over his hometown for years. He never suspected that his main target was to basically eradicate the vampires, like he wanted, but also force the people living in the East Lands to submit to his will and kick them out or kill them if they refused. On the other hand, Neschume seemed to want the same as Oyan; kill everyone and have the lands for himself and his family, and the vampires that wanted to join him afterwards, and the only way he could do it was to free the Beast inside Lucian and let it consume everything on its sight. That way, not only the humans living in the East Lands would die, but also the ones from the north, west and south, meaning that Neschume and his family would be able to control and rule wherever they pleased.

After being nearly killed by the Lunar Tribe centuries ago, Nidhoggr wasn't going to give up so easily what he considered his home to people like Neschume or Oyan. Even though he felt that humans were inferior beings and useless creatures, even when he later found out he didn't agree anymore in Ratatosk's ideas, even after he changed his views, after he was captured and tortured by Oyan's men, he was going to fight to retrieve the lands, his home, his resting place.

But to him it was hard. He wasn't a vampire made for fighting, he had a great brain to think great ideas, and had a lot of time to work on them, but his lack of knowledge in combat made him a weak vampire overall. His personality wasn't great either; Dumas often picked up on him, calling him names and insulting him wherever he could. Nidhoggr was a rather reclusive and lonely vampire, and only found he could hang out with the already slaved Sabata. Nidhoggr started to feel less and less content with Ratatosk's success, seeing how he was being pushed away slowly. Hresvelgr had left Ratatosk's side soon afterwards he noticed the man was becoming an arrogant bastard (which was normal since he had Vanargandr under his control), not bothering in taking or even asking Nidhoggr if he wanted to leave with him.

Sooner or later, everyone Nidhoggr once trusted disappointed him in a way or other. He only seemed to like and trust Sabata, even though the latter was chained against the wall the entire day, was tortured by Ratatosk himself and had to endure the weird experiments he run on him. Nidhoggr only kept fighting and surviving to see the light at the end of the tunnel, to see that perfect world that Sabata often talked about, to finally see a place where he could live and not bother with assholes all the time.

That was Nidhoggr's goal, those were his desires.

Dainn didn't have goals so different from Nidhoggr. Although he once was a vampire than wanted to revive Jormungandr to do more or less the same thing Ratatosk wanted to do in the first place, he learned to like the human race after he sealed Jormungandr again in the Spiral Tower with Ringo's help.

He was used to use things and other creatures, he was used to trick and cheat people with his shadows, with his lies. He was a creature _born_ to lie, to destroy and to humiliate. He was a naturally egocentric person, he was selfish and he gave a damn about others.

He never understood why Durathror liked him a lot, nor why the little pink haired vampire girl wanted to hang out with him, to talk with him or do things together. She treated Dainn like her big brother, and admired him like such. To Dainn, it was confusing. Why the girl would like to share 'human' emotions when they were supposed to destroy the humans? They were supposed to _not_ have or feel those emotions at all, even if they were sleeping deep inside them, since the Immortals were Dark's tool to stop the spreading of the humans and to prevent them to destroy the Universe with their selfish feelings.

When Dainn took control of Ringo's body, he had access to the man's memories and feelings. He was trilled and shocked to find such warm feelings attached to Mani and his sons, to the Solar Tree, to San Miguel, to Spiral Tower, to the Moon, to the Sun, to things that Ringo wanted to fight for. Dainn never had something he wanted to fight for, since he thought that vampires were just creatures made to stop the humans from his selfness, to remind them that there was someone above them in the food chain that was going to eat them right away. He didn't really fight for his ideals when he was ordered to wake Jormungandr from his sleep to let it eat away every living thing. He just was following orders, it wasn't something he truly wanted to do, not that he didn't like the idea of killing the entire human race, but he didn't _feel_ he was doing it because he wanted it.

Django's soul and powers called him from his sleep. Dainn had returned to his shadow form to be able to roam around without having to care about waking the Earth Snake again, and he found out that Django had been sealed in the prison by Sabata himself. Otenko had already disappeared when he found out that the boy had given up to his vampire powers in order to survive inside the dark place. Using his powers, Dainn broke the seal from the prison and both of them escaped, teaming up and start a research about vampirism to be able to cure Sabata's one. This time, Dainn felt that he was doing something he wanted. He still wanted to kill the entire human race, but after travelling with Django for thirty years, he found out that humans were just like vampires and the other way around. There was no point, at all, to hate humans and their actions since vampires acts the same way.

To Dainn, his goal would be to do whatever he wanted, when he wanted and how he wanted. He simple wanted a place to rest in peace and not bothers with others trying to constantly try to kill him or kick him off from anywhere.

For Dyango, it was very personal. Since little, he had followed his father's steps and become a vampire hunter like him, besides to carry on the genes of the Solar Children that sleep within him. After he found out he had an older brother, he started to doubt about his role as a Solar Child and a vampire hunter, especially after being bitten by his own father, which was converted by the Count of Groundsoaking Blood. If the Lunar Blood inside him didn't stop the curse, what would his friends do upon the situation? Would they have kindly say to him he had to leave, or would they mercilessly kill him as soon as they found out? Then, his brother was kidnapped and used to awake the Beast. He knew that Sabata's desire to fight with him was strong, and was his only goal after he managed to break from the Queen's chain, but Django didn't want to. He knew that his duty as vampire hunter was to kill the Undead but… Sabata was being controlled, he was forced to fuse with a creature created to destroy, who was Django to kill him because he had what Ratatosk needed to awake the Beast? That moment of doubt was the one that nearly costs his life.

He never stopped believing in his brother, though, after he was sealed in the prison. He did go angry on Otenko for leaving him and, in an act of rebellion because of his teen moment, he told to himself 'fuck everything' and welcomed the Dark Matter inside his body, he welcomed the dark powers that engulfed his body and his soul to corrupt it and transform him into a rightful vampire. He later regretted it, but he learned to accept the fact he was no longer human. Dainn was a good company and a good guide into his newly steps as a newborn vampire. After he got out from the prison, he wanted to find a way to free his brother from Ratatosk's control and so, he went into a research with his new vampire friend about vampirism and antique magic. He still hadn't found out how to break the spell that keeps Vanargandr's soul and Lucian's soul fused, but he is determinate to eventually find it out.

Dyango's goals were a bit different from Nidhoggr's and Dainn's. While both vampire boys wanted a place where they could live peacefully, Dyango wanted a place where he could call home. He travelled around the world for thirty years, and for thirty years he hadn't felt that cosy feeling, that feeling of belonging to somewhere. He only felt it when he visited the East Lands from time to time, and he knew his place was there. That's why he ended up searching for his brother and helping him in this fight.

Oyan simply wanted to fill that empty space he had in his chest after his father and grandfather were killed. He developed a hate towards the vampires, thinking he was going to be able to let it go once he enlisted as a gunslinger in the local Guild, but his grudge went out of hand, and he ended up hunting the vampires inside his own town and forced his best friend Hindi, also a vampire, to run away with his family because he just couldn't kill him. He was frustrated with himself for not being able to trust vampires back after what he saw and how his mother acted like if nothing had happened. That was what it angered him the most, and why he enlisted at early age. He wanted to run away from that house, from that woman, from that person that didn't really care that his father had died. Oyan didn't care if she hadn't love him at all, because he had found out that it was an arranged marriage. He couldn't get why she, at least, didn't show sympathy for his dead. He hated her too.

While he was frustrated with himself, he only managed to find himself at peace when he was holding a gun between his hands, when he was fighting against a strong foe, or when he was hunting down vampires. Oyan felt he was chasing down the vampires that killed his father and grandfather, and he felt he was chasing down that woman that made his life impossible after he enlisted in the Guild. One moment he was the loving son and then the other he was treated like crap. Maybe his mother never wanted to marry a human, maybe what she craved all along was to marry a vampire and have a vampire child. Oyan hated her the moment she changed her preferences, and decided to leave his house as soon as the law let him do, and moved to the Guild's building where he stayed since then. Hindi tried to be his friend, but Oyan didn't let him. He was too deep inside his hate and depression to actually see that Hindi was only trying to help him. He never lost Hindi even after he had hot discussions about vampires, humans and morals.

Oyan only wanted to find for once a way to ease his soul and try to heal his wounds. Too bad he is too blind to see that he had the answer in front of his eyes all these time.

Ernest wanted to give a chance of living to those who suffered while Dumas reigned. He knew in flesh how it was to have your family abducted by the vampires and how it was to be alone and have to take care of yourself at the young age of thirteen. He had no one he could rely on, he had no one he could trust and he had no one to look over him. For him, Trinity was like a second father and fight with him and for him was the only thing Ernest found to be worthy. He later developed an interest in Bea when the young woman came some time after Trinity died, and Ernest saw something to fight for now that the only important person in his life had disappeared forever. He, along with Kay, raised Aaron and Ernest felt content with himself now that he had someone to take care of, even when he had grow to love the entire Guild and feel it like his own. He still didn't like the leadership since he thinks he is not worthy of doing such role but no one can do it better than him in this situation.

Ernest only wanted to be useful to others since he couldn't even fight to protect his family when the vampires took them, and this war meant a lot to him since he is helping a lot of people to restore their normal lives once the war ends.

Kay was no different from Ernest, as both of them were very close friends, having the same opinions and thoughts about everything. While Ernest felt to be needed, Kay simply liked to help others in what he could. It took him a while to find out what he liked since when his family kicked him out from home he had to take care of himself and to learn to survive in the wild streets, making him selfish and self-centred. Too often his life had been in danger because he wandered in the wrong places, but those situations made him a though man when he grew up. Trinity showed him another way of living and other point of view he hadn't considered while being a spoiled brat and while being a delinquent. He understood and learned that everyone can change their life style if they only try, and Kay did it. When he was ready to confront his father again and apologize for what he did he didn't expect that his father would deny the fact he ever had a son, which lead Kay to think that everything that he had seen from Trinity was just a fantasy. Later on he realized he would have done the same thing if he had been in his father's side. Deep inside, Kay thanks him because if his father hadn't kicked him out, he wouldn't be able to meet Trinity.

Kay wanted to see a place where everyone could live the lives they wanted, to do what they wanted without being chained to stereotypes like his canid race was back in his hometown.

Bea's wishes were quiet girly, as she actually wanted to settle down and have a partner to spend her time with. She couldn't daydream as a child since her family was killed in one of the vampire's rampage. She cried a lot because of it, and went to live with some relatives in the South before she returned to the East Lands to enlist in the Guild when she was old enough. Her relatives tried to convince her not to, since she had possibilities of ending up dead in the fight against the vampires, but Bea said he couldn't sit around and do nothing while the vampires raged upon her home. Some of her friends were still alive, and she wanted to fight for them and create a place where they could come out without worrying about the vampires lurking at the corned of the block. Bea found in Aaron the little brother she never had, she took care of him along Ernest and Kay, and she was the only female role the boy ever had in his life as he developed a strong bound with her. Bea was responsible for Aaron's most reckless side as she herself is at times.

It wasn't surprising that Bea's only wish was that Aaron had a better place to live in, a place where he shouldn't have to fight at such young age.

Nish was too used to the pain. He was too used to lose someone you love in times like these, since he had lived Ratatosk's entire reign and the few years that Dumas ruled after him, so it wasn't surprisingly that he didn't show too much emotion when someone loses an important person. It's not that he doesn't care, but the picture was far too familiar for him, and he sometimes wished he could just erase that feeling that his past lovers and friends left in his chest. Nish hated to feel like that, since he was once a very cheerful person that liked to hang out with his friends and to enjoy the little things life gives to every people on the planet, but after all the hunting the humans did to his race, and the fact that Ratatosk cared less about his fellow comrades turned him into a depressing person. He started to travel alone seeing that he wasn't going to be able to endure another lose.

He used to have something to fight for. At first it was his friends, then his lovers but when everything disappeared from his sight, he felt lost. He lost the meaning of his life, he didn't like to keep living all alone, he didn't like the way things were turning out and so, he decided to go to the mountains to see if he could fight with a very angry vampire and end his life. He had been living for centuries now, and he was growing tired of simple going around alone all the time, with no one to talk with. And then, he saw him. To Nish, he seemed as lost as he was, and could see in his eyes the same emotions he was feeling right now. That horned vampire also felt lost, also felt pain. At first he didn't realize that he was walking towards him, like a moth attracted to the sensuously swirls of the fire, but then… He will not deny he was attracted by his looks at first, but after talking with him the night after in the mansion, and slowly getting attached to him, Nish noticed he had found out someone to like, someone to love. He still was disgusted about certain things from Dumas' personality and past actions as the Duke, but everything could be forgotten, and Nish only wanted to star over.

Nish had found a person that had walked his own path of pain and sorrow, and was willing to give his life for him if he had to. The only thing the vampire wanted was to make Dumas happy, and for that he needed to fight.

Dumas, on the other hand, was still confused about himself. He had changed in the past four years, but some traits of his old self leaked from time to time. As a vampire that knew power, he was used to control others and he will not deny he loves it. He loves being in control, he loves being able to decide what it will do of other's lives but he also knows when he has to control, when he has to shut up and let others do the work for him. With Lucian wasn't so different. He wanted Rymer back, and Lucian was in possession of his soul seeing as he was friend with Ursula. He accepted helping him as long as he managed to revive Rymer after they were done with the transformation, but in middle of things, he met Nish, and his world turned upside down.

He did love Nish, he liked his laid back personality and his spontaneous spirit to be able to do random things under the most unique situations. Dumas found it very interesting, and was eager to find and to taste more of that wild nature Nish leaked every time he opened his mouth, but then, he thought of Rymer, of the times they spent together, if it was right, if it was wrong, if he had to wait longer to let another person be in his life. He was used to be hurt, to be used as just a tool to be trashed later. His feelings were hurt too many times that then, he didn't care about other's feeling and treated everyone like crap, including Rymer before and after he became his mate, often not realizing it and erupting heavy discussions and fights between them. At the same time, he was scared. If he let Nish in, would he hurt him like others did in the past? It was that fear that drove him to treat others like they weren't worthy of him, hoping they would lose interesting in him and walk away. Nish insisted in go with him and Dumas was surprised and angry that the vampire was still hot on his heels, but that made him feel happy in the inside, to see that there was at least someone willing to see past his cruel words and be able to hear what he had to say.

Even thought for the things he did in the past, Dumas wanted to see the reborn of the East Lands as a new place, a place where peace could finally bloom, something he couldn't achieve when he was being pushed by the Immortals. He fought because this was his home too, and when he died the first time he begged Lucian and Aaron to do what he couldn't. Now, he was giving everything of him to fulfil his desire of protecting his home.

Neschume and Frayn were tired of seeing Nature being devastated by human's hands, they hated seeing how the humans disowned everything that wasn't at their height of supremacy. They saw the things they did to their race, to their family and friends in the nest they lived in the South. They were forced to abandon their homes and travel around the South Lands as nomads, always trying to find a place where they could stay for a while and then depart again when they were found out. Neschume was tired of running away, of being ashamed of what he was because he wasn't a human. He was damn proud of being a vampire as a human would be because he was a human. When he was old enough to go and to take care of himself, he took his brother with him and both of them started to form their own family, their own nest of vampires. They were quiet angry about what Ratatosk was doing, entirely against him because he was just doing the same humans were doing to the planet. He had Vanargandr at his side, which made him a fearsome foe, so Neschume went to search a way to get rid of him to take the Lord down.

Neschume's idea wasn't to take the throne like Frayn had thought in first place, he just wanted to free the lands and return the natural glory they once had. He disliked humans still, he would hunt them down too, but he was no god to judge or to bring their doom upon them. He could only reunite with his fellow vampires in his nest and hunt them down as they did the same with their race, but nothing else. If Vanargandr wanted to fulfil his destiny as the Destruciton Beast, he would let do it since that would be even better. His decision of joining forces with Oyan was only to get easier access to his Guild and be able to kill him and his men easier after the war ended. As much as Oyan wanted to get rid the planet from vampires, Neschume wanted to do the same with humans, to lesser extent since if humans disappears, he wouldn't have where to feed.

His ideals weren't that bad, nor where wrong at all. Like everyone else, he knew the feeling of losing someone because of the hate between humans and vampires and other beasts and creatures, and he let that hate rule his lifestyle and bring him here to the East Lands, to bring back the natural glory they once had, and to see if he could do the same with the rest of the lands. He just wanted a better place for vampires to live in, and Frayn supported him because he believes in the same goal as his brother.

Lobreta and Hër, and every other vampire helping with the war and fighting along the gunslingers were anxious to see the fruit of their effort, of their passions and desires being realized. They weren't quiet convinced at first, suspecting from the humans the first time they were called to the ruined Dark Castle, they didn't even believe a word Dumas told them, since they all knew the former Duke was a cheap bastard, and everything could be an entire trap. For their own good, it wasn't like that, and they started to believe and to hope what the humans were fighting for. They all shared the same ideals and they started to see each other as equals with minor physical appearances.

The Terrennials simply acted to what the planet's will tells them, and the planet wanted them to protect it, to take care of it and to take care of the living, and not so living, things resting on it. The planet wanted every creature to live long, to prosper and to reproduce, since it loved every creature in it even if some of them hurt it badly. It understood it was in their nature to do so, to be that destructive but like a parent that forgives the child after it broke a glass flowerpot, the planet forgave the things the humans and the vampires did to the planet and to each other, dying the ground with their blood and making the planet cry at the lose of its children.

Aaron was still young, and sometimes very naïve in his goals at life. At first, when he first met Lucian, he wanted to avenge his father much like Lucian wanted to do. He later realized there was no point in killing Dumas just for the sake of his own selfish dream since he wasn't the only one that suffered under the horned vampire's hands. Lucian understood it after keeping him like his partner and when they fought against Dumas and Polidori in outer space. They avenged their loved ones, but they also avenged those countless of vampires and humans that died during that period.

The young boy soon discovered the bloom of love, and he started to think a word in where he could live calmly with his vampire lover. He had troubles with his friends because of it (mostly Toasty) since they were a bit confused about his choices; he was a vampire hunter, how come he was in love with a vampire itself? Aaron learned with Lucian and Dumas, after the transformation had ended for the first, that it was pointless to fight something that was entirely human in the inside. Vampire might be bloodlusting beasts and they might be Dark's weapon of choice to keep humans at line but, in what they were different from humans? They hate, they love, the live, they raise their families, they have their culture and festivities like humans. They fight against each other because of the territory and food, they discuss about morals, they discriminate each other. Aaron wasn't too sure about what _exactly_ he was fighting against; to truly beasts that were trying to extinguish the human race, or against what human fears because human _knows_ that if vampires keep appearing, they soon will be gone?

Aaron was disgusted from that, and soon he disliked being a gunslinger himself. He wanted to quit but he had others he didn't want to disappoint, so he kept fighting only because he was loyal to his friends and if his friends wanted to fight, he would help them.

To him, Lucian was his most important person on the world and he wanted to protect him as he did for him each time they went into missions in the outskirts of the East Lands. Aaron simply wanted a place where he and Lucian could stay without being discriminated because of their choices.

"…How beautiful…", whispered Lucian to the wind, truly meaning his words after he had felt all the feelings from each individual joining this war. He was touched by their stories, by their emotions and hopes.

He recovered his adult shape once he had convinced Aaron to take the bullet off from his leg, and now he was standing at the edge of the building, with the little boy on his arms as he swung his tail from side to side, the two huge hands resting at the edge of the building too. The sun was slowly rising from behind the mountains in the frontier, and he could see the small groups fighting with each other down in the streets. Both of his eyes, along with Vanargandr's one on his forehead, were open, admiring the strong feeling of determination each individual had upon their own goals in their lives. And he remembered. He remembered that feeling as well, he remembered when he craved to fight against Django, to prove that he was just a mama's boy, that he was so much better than him because he knew everything Django didn't had to go through.

But he lost.

Django had something he obviously lacked, but Lucian was too weak to hate his younger sibling, he didn't have that 'hate' side of the Moon. He inherited all the love her mother had towards her husband and children, and he couldn't help it but to accept Django's brotherly love and to finally realize that if you only fight for yourself, you will end up with an empty feeling in your chest that can't be filled. Lucian felt empty in the past because he never had something to fight for besides the fact to stay alive. He never felt love, he never felt friendship, he never felt anything for anyone, but when Carmilla first arrived to the satellite thanks to the Count's doing, he felt something twitch inside him. He knew about her and what happened to the poor girl, and he sympathized with her past, feeling way too identified with it, but he couldn't understand why he was so interested in her until it was too late. After she died, after Django defeated him, he realized what he lacked, and what he wanted to do with his life. Carmilla's soul was his reason to fight against the Queen and to travel back to San Miguel to find a way to retrieve her human body where her soul could rest.

His luck didn't last too long as soon as he accepted the Lunar Blessing to become the new Moon Beauty. Ratatosk was hot on his tail and his mind was lost once the vampire took control of it. His grudge and hate returned and Lucian was soon forced to fuse with the Beast and to seal his brother in the lonely and dark prison. For thirty years he endured the pain from the crimson haired vampire (not that he wasn't used to it) and when he saw an opportunity, he took it. He was again fighting for himself, but then he met Ella and his life had a new reason to live. Then, she died at Dumas' hands, and he was extremely tired of starting to love to lose it again. Aaron was his anchor in certain times where his grudge resurfaced and tempted him in destroying everything.

Now the boy was resting in his arms, cuddling comfortable to his chest even though his veins were black because of the Dark Matter swimming in his blood. Lucian would never let his boy have the curse as long as he was sure about it, as long as he was sure he wanted to spend the rest of the eternity with him.

Lucian kneeled on the edge of the roof and hugged his mate closer, circling his wings around them as he inhaled deeply Aaron's scent. From his body, threads of Dark Matter started to flow upwards, soon fading in the sky. In matter of minutes, a gigantic black sphere appeared before the Sun and covered it completely, bringing back the night. This obviously startled everyone, more especially to the gunslingers and Terrennials.

"What's happening?", asked Gunda to Hoshii, which was now staring at the starry sky with a worried expression on her face.

"There is… something going to happen in just minutes.", she answered. Her Lizarman trembled nervously, much like Gunda's and the others. "Something is going to end the war in just minutes…"

"What will end it?"

"A big shadow.", she grasped the leashes tighter, swallowing. "A big shadow will devour everyone that stays in Acuna…", Hoshii's eyes shone with fear and Gunda started to worry.

"Can you tell me how much time do we have left?", his mind was already thinking for a plan.

"…Well, depending on what you want to do.", she smiled softly. "We have around twenty to thirty minutes before Acuna is engulfed with darkness."

"Then let's get working!", shouted the canid man as he gestured with his hands to the rest of his gunslingers, everyone following him soon afterwards.

Dainn was starting to worry about how things were coming out. They couldn't retrieve the needle from Neschume since the darn bastard escaped again and this time, Dainn couldn't trace his Dark Matter to spot him. Nidhoggr suggested to return and reunite with the others since he didn't like the fact that the Sun, the _Sun _was covered with something. Nero agreed and Dainn had to follow them. On the other hand, Dyango was quiet calm about the entire thing, and Hel was walking next to him once they had finally finished with every north gunslinger and vampire that was fighting with them.

Ernest and Kay were being carried around by Dumas and Nish, as the latter two were trying to find the Terrennials. Perrault was sitting on her master's head like always, trying to spot the rest of her companions.

Toasty was leading the group now that Aaron was gone, and he and Alexander were discussing what to do next when Nero appeared before him, happy to see that he was alright. Dyango, once he had found them and joined, explained to the rest that what was blocking the Sun was probably something that the Beast was doing, since he didn't know other outer force other than Dark to do such thing. The news didn't calm the Terrennial down seeing he had to find Aaron yet, but Alexander stopped his thought saying that they couldn't worry about him anymore. If he had to die, then they had to let him die. Plus, they had to worry about the Viscounts now because just little after Lucian took Aaron with him, their bodies started to disintegrate slowly and bleed a lot. Virginia already lost an eye and Edgar was just hanging there with some potions Lobreta had with her at the time. Ezra said it was time to return, seeing that they couldn't do much if the Beast was lose and crazy like this. If the Beast was going to finally devour the planet, it wouldn't be fair for the rest of the vampires to not see their families and friends before the imminent doom.

Pushing aside his own desire of finding Aaron Toasty agreed, sniffing and crying on Alexander's shoulder as the small group started to walk off Acuna back to the Vambery.

Ernest told Nish to slow down and to land when he spotted the running Lizardmen just below them. Kay was shocked to see the canid man leading the group when they landed before it. Gunda was glad he finally managed to find them and he told them what was happening and what Hoshii had just read in the stars. Dumas said there was no point in fighting anymore seeing as the Beast was just starting to do what it was created for.

"Is it there no hope then?", said Ernest to Dumas. He gripped his Dragoon tightly. "Are we… I mean… the planet is going to be really devoured?"

The horned man nodded.

"Vanargandr was once sealed by the Lunar Tribe and would have remained that way if Mani hadn't have offspring. The only way to seal it again would be if, by some sort of miracle, Lucian recovers his conscious and either kills himself to prevent Vanargandr from destroying the planet or expulses it from his body, but I doubt there is a way to do so.", explained the man.

"And at this rate, it would be impossible to kill Lucian.", added Nish anticipating what Gunda had in mind. "Seeing he is fused with the Beast very intimately, his power is far, far beyond us, even if we group and fight together."

"But he had the Beast controlled all these years! Why just so suddenly…", Ernest sighed and covered his face with his right hand. He felt so angry to see that all his effort to fight was in vain.

"He no longer has Lunar Blood in him to actually do that.", said Dumas. "Vanargandr is corrupting Lucian's body and mind with the Dark Matter in order to do what he started in the Moon thirty years ago."

Hoshii was the one that interrupted and hurried them to leave Acuna. Gunda told Kay to jump behind him as Ernest went with Hoshii. Dumas and Nish opened their wings and flew away, being the head of the group and telling Gunda where he had to go, although they stopped in mid air as they saw two columns of Dark Matter raise from the ground, to materialize and remind to a differently colored Dark Castle. From the bridge connecting both towers, a slipping creature started to form and Dumas paled when he and Nish noticed that the one hanging from the towers was Jormungandr. The gigantic snake opened its jaws and let out a pitch screech, forcing the vampires in Acuna to cover their ears in pain.

Jormungandr screeched a second time before sticking its tongue out and let strange and dark, purplish clouds sprout from its mouth. The clouds quickly covered the air above the snake, and they started to slowly spread over Acuna.

Dainn and Dyango panicked, and Hel screamed to the rest to speed up, saying that if those clouds ever touch one of the humans they would turn into mindless ghouls. Having that in mind, the group started to walk faster in the opposite direction from where they walking seeing that Jormungandr just appeared right in the middle of the city to have a better coverage of it.

Dumas and Nish urged Gunda to walk south likewise, as they spread their wings and tried to get away from the snake as fast as they could, but Perrault was snatched from the man's head by one of the strange oozes Vanargandr controlled. Dumas freaked out when he noticed and started to attack the critter with low chances of getting his Terrennial back. He started to follow the ooze when it started to back away but Nish stopped him.

"Let me go! I'm not going anywhere without Perrault!", shouted the former Duke as the other vampire held his wings tightly in his hands, but the man was twisting them so hard that Nish lost his grasp.

"I'm not letting you die because of her!", the albino screamed, managing to catch Duma' left leg. "I'm not going to let YOU die! I already had enough!"

Both of them struggled and the albino ended the quarrel when he headbutted the horned man with his ice helmet, knocking Dumas out. Nish frowned as he looked back at the screaming Perrault, and mumbled an apologize before turning around and leaving.

The only figure that was seen to be flying towards the clouds was the one from Lucian, whose tail was slashing around like mad, his pupils widened and nearly gone when he reached the strange tower Jormungandr was resting on. The snake screeched again when some of its eyes locked their gaze on the floating form of the vessel and gently took the young boy's body in the appendages sticking out from its body, as he curled the boy on them to protect him from the Dark Clouds.

Lucian floated above the Dark Clouds, above Jormungandr and he saw how many individuals were running away scared of what was happening. Neschumen's group was standing at the frontier, watching with joy how the Dark Clouds were covering the sky. Cyril's werewolves were in their beast form, also running away from the city, and Oyan and the men he had left following the beasts example.

Lucian's hands (rather claws) glowed in a crimson glow, and the Dark Clouds started to spin as soon as they left Jormungandr's mouth, creating a roaring vortex above the snake. He started to laugh, and laugh hard as his voice echoed in the city while his skin started to burnt out, exposing his flesh, then his bones and organs. His hair fell off and his eyes disappeared, as he let out a primal scream before he was reduced to black ashes that fell on the Dark Clouds.

Hoshii let out a scream as she started to mumble the time was over, that her star reading had been wrong all the time and that the clouds over the future were too thick. Ernest tried to calm her down, because her ride was started to whine with nervousness. Gunda screamed and Hoshii jumped from her seat, locking gaze with him before nodding and urging her Lizarmen to run faster.

Nish beat his wings furiously, trying to gain as much as speed as he could while having Dumas' body on his arms. He felt completely guilty and sorry for leaving Perrault behind, but Dumas was more important to him right now. Nish hoped Dumas understood if they ever get alive from the city.

Hel screamed in pain, tripping and falling on the floor as she gripped her teeth tightly. Dyango urged the others to keep going as he returned to the woman's side, helping her on her feet to try and meet the others, but Hel screamed again before her entire body went black and a mass of shadow left Bea's body, returning to herself when Hel abandoned the human's mind.

"How do you feel?", asked Dyango to Bea, who was gripping his shirt tightly.

"I feel like fucking crap…", she screamed in shock when the young man lifted her and started to run. "What are you doing?!"

"I'm sorry, but in the state you are it will be faster this way."

Dyango soon returned to the group and the Terrennials were glad to see that Bea was back once more.

The Dark Clouds were now covering Acuna completely and, to everyone's shock, a dark barrier formed at the city's frontiers, trapping everyone inside, including Neschume's vampires. Jormungandr finally closed its mouth when they covered the roof of the barrier and coiled comfortably around the tower, having especial care in not hurting Aaron while it did so. Firmly grasping the boy against its body with his appendages and covering them with his membrane wings, the snake gave another screech and the clouds started to spin in the other way they had been doing it. They spun faster and faster, the noise becoming unbearable to vampire's and human's ears, but each of them kept running, desperate for their own lives, trying to finally reach the frontier of Acuna and see if they could trespass the barrier.

Lucian's laugh could be heard again as the centre of the vortex fell at incredible speed to the ground, taking along all the clouds behind and turning into pitch, black shadows that started to roam into the streets, covering the buildings with shadows as they swallowed everything in their path. The speed of the shadows was unbelievable, and the first group in being its victims was Cyril and his werewolves. They whined and cried, feeling intense pain when the shadows penetrated in their bodies, tearing them apart quickly and feeding from their negative emotions and blood that poured from their flesh and wounds.

Oyan and his men were the next ones. Oyan simply dropped his gun and embraced the shadows when they enveloped his body to start tearing it apart. He could hear his men cries of help and mercy for a few seconds before his own ears stopped hearing, and his body stopped to feel, and his eyes stopped to see. Soon, his mind turned off and he knew no more.

Neschume and his family was panicking when the shadows reached them too, the vampires trying in vain to escape and to fight back, as each hit didn't do anything to the shadows that swallowed them.

A roar was heard, and a bony creature emerged from the centre of the thick shadows, its massive fanged mouth opening and letting another roar as its tongue dance around its fangs. It had no flesh, no skin, no organs. It was a living mass of skulls and bones, and its single red eye blinked a few times before it adjusted to the sight before it. Oozes started to come out from its body and from its sides, two bony and massive hands came out; one white, the other purple. Steam of Dark Matter came out from its mouth as it breathes darkness around. It roared again and the oozes shivered around it, watching how the shadows consumed everything in their path.

Hel materialized on Jormungandr's head as she was now holding Aaron on her arms when Vanargandr turned around to lock his eye on the lean woman. The Beast dragged itself towards her and with its floating hands took the boy on them, quickly covering Aaron with them as he made a soft, purring noise when it smelled his scent. Vanargandr stood straight as its chest opened and several flesh tentacles wrapped around the boy and pulled him inside, in a secure environment to prevent him being corrupted by the Dark Clouds.

"Shit, let me go!", screamed Perrault when she was dragged by the ooze to Vanargandr's nose. "Let me go! What the fuck do you want from me?!", demanded when she was placed face to face with the Beast. The Terrennial felt incredible small upon the sight of the Beast before her.

"I want what they stole from me.", growled Vanargandr. "I want what once it belonged to me by right, and only you have now."

Perrault was forced to take a more human form, but remaining with her feline traits as she stayed with her suit too. She screamed in pain when the oozes transformed in translucent tentacles that held her tight in place, even when she angrily scratched with her hands, trying to desperately break free.

"What the fuck are you talking about?! I haven't stolen anything from you! Let me go!", cried out the Terrennial.

She hear a snicker and Vanargandr's mouth opened, revealing his purplish tongue as it started to twitch and melt, becoming the body of someone she knew very well. The oozes tentacles moved her closer to the mouth as she nearly fainted in disgust when the ooze covered body of Lucian came into view. He was grinning widely, his eyes were bright red and his sclera's quickly turned pitch black. His hair was visibly longer, but his bangs and hairstyle remained intact. His forearms were mutated and were turned pitch black too, with long claws made of Dark Matter. Over his shoulders and spine run strange runes that glowed in red.

Perrault shivered.

"…w-what d-do you w-want f-f-from me…", managed to articulate.

Lucian chuckled, standing up over the melting tongue as he walked closer to the Terrennial, helping his poor balance with Vanargandr's fangs along the way. He dropped on his knees before Perrault and showed her his long fangs.

"I want my power back.", he told her, laughing. "I just want my power back, I want my Lunar Blessing back!", he frowned, lifting his hands and stretching his arms towards the Terrenial.

Perrault fainted when one of the long claws went through her head.

The shadows cornered Dyango's group, as the Terrennials bounced constantly over the barrier when they attacked it with their powers but none of them seemed to work. Dainn and Nidhoggr helped too, but their attacks were absorbed by the barrier, and made it thicker. Gunda had the same problem when he reached the edge of the city with his group. Nish insisted but his ice powers froze over the surface before melting away soon afterwards. Dumas was already awake from the hit he received before, not really too happy to find out Perrault was taken away. Ernest and Kay, Gunda and his men tried to break the barrier with their solar guns, but not even the solar energy managed to break a small hole on it. Hoshii was whimpering and mumbling some predictions to herself that no one could understand, not even Gunda when he walked to her to hear them better.

"Oh Heavens…", whispered Nish, turning his back to the barrier when he felt the shadows come their way. "Oh Heavens…", his chest, even when he didn't need to breath at all, was rising quickly due to his nervousness. Dumas' right hand gripped his, as the horned man swallowed hard upon seeing them come.

Ernest tangled his left arm with Kay's, and the canid man took his hand, standing firmly before the dark menace. Guna and his soldiers jumped down their ridings, as the lizarmen scattered around without caring about them. The group stood together before the shadows, like convicts that were to receive the shot from a squad. Everyone held hands together, and swallowed hard. Some started to pray under their breath, and only one of them lighted a cig. He took a deep breath before letting it out.

Dyango had Dainn tightly close on his waist. The shadowy vampire was trembling in utter fear now, as Nidhoggr was next to him, holding one of his hands. The Viscounts were close to each other, the humans were grouped together and the vampires on the other side likewise. The Terrennials were all together too, and Toasty sighed heavily. He turned to look at Ezra, which turned into her semi-human form, and the ice Terrennial returned his gaze. They hold hands together, tightly, and then turned their gaze to the shadows that were coming to them.

"I love you.", said Toasty outlout and Ezra's eyes widened. "I'm sorry I couldn't told you earlier…", he sighed again. "But I love you.", he tightened his hands on Ezra's and the artic fox snorted. "What?"

"You idiot…", she cried. "I knew it all along…"

Alexander smiled, and he gripped Toasty's hand, while Nero did the same with the Wind Terrennial.

All of them closed their eyes, all of them facing their destiny, their death. All of them closed their eyes to not see the fanged smile that the shadows created when they opened their mouth and engulf them all.


	36. Chapter 36

36

He felt light headed, like he was floating over a water surface, but his body felt completely numb. He tried to move his fingers but they didn't respond. He heard a soft breeze and then some murmur the leaves created because of the wind. He opened his eyes and a starry sky welcomed him back to a conscious state. Above him, several silvery leaves danced along the breeze, and a few of them fell on his face. He shook his head to brush them off.

With a groan he sat up, momentarily feeling dizzy as he did so, losing a bit of balance when he acquired a straight position. Once he felt his head stopped spinning around, he lifted his gaze and gasped at the sight of several crystalline stairs that led to different small platforms, and kept going up until reaching a bigger, much bigger, one. From there, he could hear water flowing down. Suddenly thirsty, he stood up slowly, helping himself with a nearby tree and walked towards the first trail of stairs, one step at the time to prevent any accident.

From time to time he felt the entire structure shake softly. Since there were no railing to lean on when this happened, Aaron decided to kneel on the floor or over the steps each time there was a shaking. When the shaking ended, he would stand up and keep heading up. He eventually reached the top floor without mayor problems, and the sight before him left him breathless. The place radiated a silvery aura everywhere; the fountain a few meters away from him, the water inside and pouring from the top, the statues around it, the trees all over the places with their falling leaves, the houses in the background. Aaron was delighted with such beauty, but he headed first into the fountain and splashed his face in it, drinking huge gulps of the fresh and cool water from it. When his thirst died out, he took his face out from the water and cleaned the water drops from it with his hands.

He took a better view to the place and reached the statues he gazed when he just came to the platform. Most of them were representations of men and women in long robes with complicated patterns on them, strange, crescent shaped hats and some of them holding books. Others had their hands up, others had their hands over their lap, although all of them had a sparkling dust covering their shoulders, face, hands and head. Aaron stood on his tip-toes and dusted off some of it, seeing how it sparkled before fading away in mid air. He turned around and arched his eyebrows. Just where the hell he was?

Instead of standing there, he decided to take a look around, to see if there was someone who could tell him where he ended up, but he stopped right there when, taking one of the corners, he encountered a rare creature. Well, not so rare because he was familiarized with Skeletons and the other Fencer and Arched Skeletons, but the one patrolling in front of him was pitch black. He was dragging around his sword of the same color as its bones, and a second one turned and spotted the boy. Both creatures quickly run towards Aaron, and the boy instinctively reached out for his solar gun, only to find it missing. Fearing for his life, Aaron turned around and started running away, being followed by both Black Skeletons.

The Skeleton Archer took out its bow and took an arrow from the case behind him and shot, nearly puncturing Aaron's ankle in the process. The boy cursed as he took a corner and kept running straight, only to bump into another Black Skeleton. This one didn't have any weapon but the hit the boy got was strong enough to throw him to the floor. He whined in pain and the Black Skeleton came closer to give him another hit, but it stopped, with its arm high in the air. It closed its mouth, it lowered its arm and it came closer to the boy to inspect it. It reached out a bony hand and touched the boy's head, doing some weird noises when it brushed its teeth together. Aaron thought he heard a laugh when the Black Skeleton wandered off, screeching at the other two that were coming right to get Aaron. The armed ones stopped on their hills, dropped down their weapons, turned around and left.

It was just like when Lucian mated with him, back a few months ago. Aaron had this… power over the hounds and the crows going around the Hunting Mansion. They sniffed him but didn't do anything. They walked with him, stick to his feet, to protect him. Where these strange creatures Immortal's servants? Was that why they didn't do anything to him? Aaron didn't repair in those questions as he stood up, rubbing the place where he was hit by the Black Skeleton and kept walking.

Talking about Lucian, where the hell he was? The last thing he remembered was that his vampire took him from Toasty's group and forced him to take off the magic bullet that was restricting his powers and sealed them from Vanargandr's reach. He remembered having discussed and fought with him because of it, but since Aaron's Dark Matter belonged to Lucian still, the vampire simple took control of his body and the boy was forced to take the bullet off even if he didn't want to. Then, he blacked out and the next thing he knows is that he woke up in this strange world.

Cursing his beloved for what it seemed the hundred time since he went to Acuna with the others, Aaron sighed and followed one of the Black Skeletons around. After some walking, he reached what it seemed to be the centre of the place. There was a hole on the ground with stairs going down into it. The boy walked to the edge, and gulped when he saw how dark it was. Holding his breath, he started to walk down the stairs and the moment he reached the first break, he felt how the air around him became denser. The interior of the chamber was also decorated with complicated figures and patterns all over the wall, but the more he reached the bottom, the walls started to twist around and skulls of any size but all of them crimson, gray or purple started to pop out from them. When Aaron reached the bottom of the chamber he gasped at the sight of the floor being covered with skulls too. There was a path left intact as he walked on it, hearing bobbling noises coming from the translucent oozes that were just coming out from where he just walked.

At the sides of the huge door there were two white statues, both of them were females, both with their hands up like if they were praying. The door was white like the statues, with a strange symbol craved on it. Aaron could feel an intense energy coming from the other side, and his blood reacted wildly at it. He put his hands on the door and pushed softly, seeing how little strength he needed to open one of the halves. The long corridor was plagued with the same crimson skulls from the chamber he just left, and the energy was even stronger when he crossed the door. He saw small round balls of Dark Matter floating around, like energy balls of a light, silvery color as well. He couldn't decipher what kind of energy it was. Shrugging off the feeling inside him, he rushed up to the end of the corridor, finding another set of stairs that lead to a second chamber.

With shaking legs, the boy took a first step down. Seeing that his body wasn't going to calm down at all, Aaron sighed deeply and started to walk down the stairs at quick pace, reaching the bottom floor sooner than he thought of. The chamber was nothing he had seen before. The entire room was covered with skulls, bright crimson colored skulls. The floor, the walls, the roof, they were everywhere, but the most imposing thing in the chamber was that bony creature in front of a huge glass. When Aaron walked closer, he not only saw his planet from there, but he also spotted Perrault's figure laying on the floor before this strange creature. Worried, the boy kneeled next to the Terrennial and holds her in his arms, shaking her shoulders a bit and managing to wake her up.

"…Aaron?", asked confused as she sat up. "What are you doing here?"

"Here where, I might ask.", came his reply.

Perrault looked around. She knew where they were, but she couldn't understand how Aaron ended up with her in the same place. Wasn't the boy with the others when the Dark Clouds started to spread?

"As far I can tell we are in Mahoroba, the Paradise of the Lunar Children.", explained the Terrennial. "Right now we are in the chamber where Vanargnadr had been seal by that same tribe but…"

Aaron arched an eyebrow.

"But…?"

"It should be impossible. Mahoroba is located on the Moon."

"We are on the Moon? Wait… the _Moon_?", Perrault nodded and sighed in annoyance at Aaron's thick skull.

"You're not in Mahoroba.", came a female voice from inside the chamber. Perrault jumped on her spot and Aaron stood up, just to remember he didn't have his gun with him. "You're inside Sabata's mind right now. What you see here are only his memories."

From between the skulls, both saw some green snakes slider on them. Seconds later, the head of a woman came into view as her body came from the ground, revealing a snake type body below her hips. The snake body had brown, copper scales and a big rattle at the end of her tail, while her skin was the usual blue from her vampire race. She was wearing a simple red dress, way too tight to her figure and Aaron could mostly see through it. She had soft features and a beauty spot just below her right eye. The snakes on her head slither around, sticking their tongues out, testing the air.

"Both of you had been absorbed by Vanargandr, and your mind was absorbed by Sabata's one.", the vampire woman explained. She put her hands on her lap as she rested on her snake body, coiling her tail below her to create a comfortable seat. "Right now, he is behind both of you, resting in that fake body Vanargandr created to seal Sabata's mind.", Aaron looked back and the woman chanted something in an ancient language and the bony beast groaned, moving and revealing the unconscious form of the purple haired man he always knew.

"But… I don't get it, how this happened?", asked Aaron as he tried to get closer to him, but a bunch of snakes created a barrier between him and Lucian. Aaron stepped back.

"Someone had taken the needle that controls Vanargandr and made him stay away from Sabata's mind.", explained the woman. "Once Vanargandr awoke, he sealed Sabata's soul within this seal to control his body accordingly to his wishes."

Perrault laughed.

"It was just a matter of time before Lucian lost his will to the Beast.", she laughed again, and Aaron frowned and glared at the Terrennial. "After all, the Immortals were right! Humans _did _destroy the planet at least!"

"As far as I know it was Ratatosk, a _vampire_, who had the marvelous idea of awaking such beast like Vanargnadr!!", shouted Aaron back. "It was a matter of time since someone like Dumas came and took his power because of his greediness!"

"Shut up, you worthless bug! You don't know him at all to judge his actions!"

"I know enough to say that if he had acted way before he killed Ratatosk he could have been able to control the situation better instead of just leaving it everything to the Immortals! Immortals might be a strong race but they even _feared_ the power of the Ancestrals like Vanargandr and Jormungandr.", replied the boy. The woman stood still, eyeing the boy carefully. "Why do you think they helped the Solar Children and the Lunar Children to seal Jormungandr underneath Spiral Tower? That Ancestral _alone _had three seals, one of each corresponding to each power; sol, luna and dark."

"So what? Lucian fled the Vambery even when he knew he had such powerful Beast inside! He knew the danger and even then he decided to run away with it.", the Terrennial counterattacked.

"Dumas could have pursued him instead of just ignoring my father's sabotage to the Vambery. Dumas knew what happened, but he choose to not tell Ratatosk a thing since he knew the body Vanargandr had would soon fade away, and Ratatosk would lose his powers, making it easier to kill and him to occupy the throne.", he frowned again. "And you followed him all the way!"

"Because humans are the root of the planet's decadency!"

"Vampires are not that different from humans!", shouted the boy back, and the woman was surprised with this comeback. "They had damaged the planet too in their blindness rage against humans! Stop the cycle of life? Who the fuck they think they are to stop something so important like that! God, Dark itself? What? Think again!", Aaron sighed angry. "The foil, the earth itself is being corrupted thanks to the Undeading roaming everywhere. It kills the plants, it kills the ecosystem this planet so hard created within years and years and years of evolution. This ecosystem, tell me, what had against the vampires? What did this ecosystem do to the vampires that so mindlessly killed with their Dark Matter being spread around the planet? I will not deny that we humans did our things, but in the beginning we only did it to survive, just like vampires did too."

"If it was that way then why Dark sent Ancestrals like Jormungandr and Vanargandr?", Perrault smirked. "They came for a reason, and that reason is the human race."

"Well, we don't know. Vampires could have told _anything_ to Dark in order to conquer the planet and slave humans just for fun and for feeding. Who knows if Dark really knows what happens here? He only has the version from the vampires."

The woman smiled softly, but Perrault growled in irritation.

"The only way you have to momentarily gain control of Vanargandr would be if you manage to bring Sabata's mind back.", said the woman, cutting the discussion between the Terrennial and the boy, gaining his attention. "He was supposed to be sealed along with Sabata back thirty years ago, when I tried to put them back to sleep with my petrifying ability, but I failed, and my soul got bonded to Sabata's mind in the process, and I had been looking over it since then, but lately I had troubles to keep it in control.", the woman slithered next to Aaron. "I'm no longer desired here, so my powers don't have any effect on him anymore. If you love him as much as you say you do, then you will have to take the responsibility of guarding his mind and his will like I had been doing all these time. Part of your soul will be bonded and will be sealed in this chamber if something like this ever happens again, but you have to be completely sure about it. Otherwise, I will ask you to kindly leave his mind and return to your world."

Perrault snorted behind them, and the woman turned around, facing the Terrennial with her expression twisting in anger.

"I just don't believe he will do it.", said Perrault in reply to he woman's face. "Or that he will manage to do it, he is just a weak human that had a whim on a vampire, that's all."

"Then as long as he _tries_ to bring him back, I will ask you to fucking shut your fucking mouth, ex-Terrennial of the Luna Element."

Aaron arches his eyebrows in surprise, and Perrault stood in silence.

"Ex-Terrennial? The hell are you talking about?", said the boy.

"She no longer has her Luna powers, as they had been absorbed by Vanargandr when she was captured by him."

"…What?! WHAT?!", Perrault screamed, spreading her wings and taking her claws out. "Stop fucking around you bitch!"

The woman hissed angrily, her snakes on her head hissing likewise. With a swift movement of her tail, she hit Perrault on her right side and sent her flying, but the Terrennial, being a feline, had quick reflexes and managed to land on her feet. She growled, whipping her tail behind her.

"I will entertain her for a while.", said the woman as she slithered away from Aaron. "I will transfer my powers to you, so you can keep him under control if he tries anything on you or to this chamber, and to prevent his mind from crashing because of Vanargandr's powers.", Aaron nodded at her, and he quickly kneeled before Lucian. He took off his red gloves and touched the sides of Lucian's head, nodding again at the woman, indicating he was ready. "Good."

The lady vampire introduced her body in the ground, as her snakes came in front of Aaron and started to bit him everywhere. The boy gasped in pain but he screamed at himself while the small but sharp and painful fangs sank in his arms, legs, neck and torso, pouring the woman's powers into his body. His Dark Matter seemed to welcome them greatly, as he didn't have any side effects from them. Perrault tried to stop them, seeing it was the opportunity her master had been waiting for so long, but she couldn't fly or levitate. Soon realizing that her powers were indeed stolen, she launched towards the boy, but the woman hit her big rattle on the ground, shaking it and making Perrault trip over.

"I'm Carmilla of the Wind, the Deathbringer Banshee, the lady vampire.", she introduced herself, waving her tail with her rattle, treating to hit Perrault again with it. "And I will not give you a chance to get any closer to my master Sabata."

Perrault ignored the advice as she launched herself at her again, only to be thrown back once more with the rattle.

Meanwhile, Aaron sighed in relief when the snakes stopped biting him. What he didn't notice was that his eyes turned yellow and his pupils turned into thin lines, much like the ones reptiles has. He didn't feel any different but when Lucian lifted his head to lock his empty gaze on him, Aaron felt a strong push inside, something that craved onto the other male. Lucian growled, showing his fangs to the boy, not recognizing him at all. The beast that held him enslaved also awoke, and the floating hands at its sides tried to get under the skull body to rip Aaron from Lucian's side.

"Hey, hey…", he softly called when the vampire tried to bit him. The boy cradled Lucian's head on his hands and smiled. "It's me, don't worry.", he caressed his cheeks, but the vampire didn't stop growling at him. "Come on now, look at me.", he tried to force Lucian to lift his head, but the man twisted and break free from Aaron's grasp, forcing him to step back to prevent another bite.

Lucian moved his shoulders and freed both of his arms. He growled again and the beast lifted his torso, exposing Aaron to the hands that turned into fists. The boy could dodge the attack by lying down on the floor, but the second time wasn't too lucky, and one of the hands threw him to the left side of the beast.

He winced, standing up. He watched how Carmilla prevented Perrault from stopping Aaron, and the boy gasped as he rolled to the side to dodge one of the floating hands.

Carmilla said she was 'the one of the Wind', and Aaron implied she had Wind powers, then. He tried to remember the things that he learned from Alexander and his Wind magic, so when both hands prepared to attack, the boy held out both of his hands. When the bony hands were just centimeters away from him, Aaron shot a strong wind from his palms that threw back Vanargandr's hands back, smashing them into pieces when they hit the walls made from bone. Quickly taking advantage of it, Aaron rushed back to Lucian's side, which wasn't too happy to see that the hands were ripped apart.

"Lu…", he called again, forcing the man to look at his eyes once more. "I know you are… somewhere.", he sighed and took off his red scarf and tied it around Lucian's neck. The man hissed when the boy did so as his arms twisted within the mass of skulls, trying to get away from the boy's reach, but the piece of fabric was tightly wrapped around his neck, and the scent that came from it made Lucian look down to it, giving Aaron some hopes. "Does it seems familiar?", he asked, coming closer to the man.

Lucian frowned. Something indeed was familiar about it, but he quiet didn't remember the object at all but that… that scent that came from it. He lowered his head and sniffed, shooting up his head when the scent penetrated his nosetrills. Confused, he looked down on Aaron and hissed again, showing his fangs as he growled and twisted his arms, creating a second pair of bony hands from within the beast's body.

Aaron hugged the man's waist when the hands passed way too close to him. The man growled in discomfort and, this time, he managed to bit down on Aaron's neck due to the closeness, but the boy didn't flinch at all, he let the man drink his blood as he pleased.

"What do you think you are doing?!", came Carmilla's angry voice from behind. He heard Perrault laugh at this.

"Do you still believe in humans, Lady Vampire? Why don't you think it twice now?"

Aaron ignored their complains as he sighed deeply, tightening his arms around the man's waist. When Lucian stopped drinking the boy's blood, he moaned as he licked his lips, finding the blood's taste quiet… delicious. Aaron heard Lucian chuckle as the man lowered his head again to give a tentative lick at his neck to see his reaction. He arched his eyebrows in surprise when he heard a faint moan escape from Aaron's throat, and when he bit down again, the boy gasped as he dug his nails on the man's back.

Lucian hissed at the pain and pushed Aaron back as he arched his back, angry. The hands started to move again and the boy moved fast, coming close to him and digging his nails again on his back. Lucian hissed in pain again, but afterwards he arched his back in pleasure… The white hand slapped Aaron against the ground as the vampire's mouth opened in a silent moan, sighing at the feeling. He lowered his gaze at the boy lying on the ground, expecting more from him. Something deep inside started to crave that type of pain, and he wanted to experiment it again. Battling with Vanargandr's will, Lucian forced the beast to lift the hand enough to let Aaron crawl away from it, while the other stayed down, the claws digging into the skulls as it shook with anger.

The vampire lowered his body and made a purring noise that was caught by Aaron's ears. The boy kneeled before the vampire and saw him smirk as he sunk his nose into the boy's hair, making him blush madly. The boy stood up, and he felt the man's mouth travel on his neck, giving short licks to the open wound he just gave him moments ago. He growled again, biting down and pouring more blood from the injury. Aaron winced in pain again, pulling Lucian's bangs down and forcing the vampire to stop drinking.

The hands moved on their own again, but Aaron managed to keep them away with another shot of wind that threw them a few meters away.

"Lucian…", whispered the boy, cradling his face in his hands again. "Can't you really see me?", he shyly kissed the man, circling his arms around his shoulders. The vampire purred again, nuzzling the boy's neck.

That scent kept running around in his mind. It belonged to someone, someone the vampire knew too well, but Vanargandr's power was blocking his memories and he couldn't identify to whom that scent belonged, but it made him feel good. The scent brings him back certain feelings, certain emotions that were resurfacing now that he was awake. The way the human in front of him was snuggling on his body, the way his blood tasted… the pain. That pain, that pain he so desperately tried to forget. He didn't want to feel pain again, he disliked pain, he hated pain. He had been in pain all his life, he wanted a break…

Lucian roared and pushed Aaron away, hitting him with the purple hand and opening a deep wound in his leg. The blood started to pour, slipping on the crimson skulls and from out of the sudden, the hands dropped on the ground, lifeless. The Beast roared and locked its single eye on the bleeding Aaron, as Lucian's eye widened. The boy wined in pain as he pressed down on the injury with his hands, trying to ease the bleeding, but not having too much luck with it. Lucian forced the beast to move, and the skull body of Vanargandr moved with the man's will, covering Aaron's body with it as his face stayed a few inches again from the boy's one.

"Lucian?", called so low the boy that he thought he only articulated his lips. He reached out a bloody hand towards his face and caressed the man's right cheek, watching him lid his eyes, enjoying the touch. "I'm here…", said the boy with a smile. He crawled closer to him as his leg let him, kissing him again. "I'm here, you don't have to worry about anything…", he told him as he kissed the man again. Lucian sighed, pulling his arms off from the mass of skulls to hug the boy against his chest, inhaling his scent deeply. "I love you Lucian.", whispered Aaron as he hide his face on the man's neck.

The vampire didn't reply, he simply stayed like that, holding the boy in his arms. He later realized Carmilla's and Perrault's presence and, standing up and leaving Aaron's side, he walked to them. The Terrennial's tail stood upstraight as she hissed at the man, and Carmilla stayed where she was, seeing the man kneel next to her and look at her face closely, frowning when the face was familiar for him but couldn't determinate to whom it belonged. When he turned to Perrault, his face twisted in anger. He recognized the scent of someone he just hated with all his guts, and the beast behind him started to move again. Aaron called out the vampire's name, but he didn't respond to it.

"Fuck, Lucian…", cursed the boy as he tried to stand up but failing miserably. Groaning, he bit all his fingers, pouring blood and activating his Dark Matter, which started to leak out, mixing with the blood.

The treads shot towards the vampire, tying up his hands behind his back and forcing him to kneel as Aaron pulled the treads to drag him back under the beast. While Lucian was restricted, the hands weren't, and one of them trashed around, hitting Carmilla in its way and smashing Perrault against one of the walls. The vampire roared, arching his back, letting that buried grudge arise again.

"Share your memories with him!", cried out Carmilla when one of the hands hit her a second time.

"And how do I do that?!", asked the boy while trying to keep a hold in Lucian's struggle.

"You and he share the same Dark Matter, it should be easy with it to connect your mind with his!"

Aaron remembered how he forced Lucian in a state of complete submission when they were captured by Oyan, how he could use his Dark Matter to control Lucian's answers, how he used it to control the vampire's memories. Keeping it in mind, the boy kept pulling the treads until Lucian was close enough for him to crawl and grab his head, forcing him to lay on the ground as he circled his shoulders with his legs, even when one of them cried in pain.

"Will you give yourself completely to me?", asked the boy to Lucian, who kept struggling, seeming to not hear the boy talk. "Lucian, will you surrender to me?"

"No!", shouted the vampire, showing his fangs and trying to bite Aaron as he twisted around. He pushed his wrists, but the more he moved, the tighter they got. "I'm not going to submit to you!"

"Yes you will.", Aaron changed the tone of his voice, concentrating his Dark Matter as he tried to remember at the same time what exactly he did when Oyan asked him to dig into Lucian's brain. "Keep in mind I'm not Vanargandr…", Lucian roared when the boy mentioned the name, but he soon calmed down when Aaron put one of his bloody hands over his mouth. The vampire moaned at the scent and licked the blood covering the boy's hands. "I'm not Vanargandr.", Lucian growled again, this time biting down on Aaron's hand. "Auch! Damn, I have to teach you to not bite the hand that feeds you!"

To his surprise, the vampire chuckled and smirked at him, licking his lips. It seemed that the way Aaron said his last sentences trigged something inside Lucian's mind, possibly from the way both of them treated each other when they were in private, but the boy still needed him to surrender at his will to be able to dig into his brain, because in that state, his own mind would crash under Lucian's Dark Matter if he dared to do it now.

Seeing that Lucian didn't want to bite him for the moment, the boy dragged his index fingers along his face, ignoring completely the chaos around him. He focused only in the vampire, not really caring if the hands that trashed around were destroying the place slowly. The boy smiled warmly and kissed the man's forehead, feeling him struggle when this happened. He drew random patterns over Lucian's mouth with the blood and the vampire stick out his tongue tying to get as much as he could, but whined when he couldn't.

"Now, now…", whispered the boy, tracing Lucian's face with his fingers. The slow motion and soft caress seemed to gradually calm down the man, but Aaron felt that his mind was a total mess still. "You like my blood, don't you?", said as he drew one of his fingers over Lucian's mouth, feeling the latter kiss it. "You like my scent too, right?", and he put his scarf over the man's nose.

The vampire trashed around when he sniffed that perfume, widening his eyes and growling under his breath. Aaron shushed him and whispered some memories he and Lucian shared.

"You used to like my scarf.", said the boy, rubbing Lucian's temples. From the tip of his fingers came out small treads of Dark Matter that started to dance around. "Well, you actually like it, because you would hold it close when I was gone, when I had to go into mission for a long time, like I used your coat when you were gone, and I missed you so much…", with his left hand, Aaron rubbed the fabric of the scarf on Lucian's cheek, and the vampire groaned softly. "You would wear it everywhere you went because you liked to feel my presence with it… Can't you remember that?", asked as he dug his fingers into Lucian's temples, but Lucian's power repelled Aaron's try into getting in.

The vampire calmed down a bit more, at last enough for the hands to stop trashing around and let Perrault and Carmilla have a rest from them. The Terrennial was badly wounded and one of her wings was broken but the snake lady, being almost buried in the skulls, didn't come out too hurt from them.

Aaron continued, and started to relate quickly what summed the last four years with Lucian, and Lucian was getting a bit confused with those memories since in his state of mind, he only remembered the bad time he spent with Ratatosk and some of the years after Dumas acquired the throne afterwards. He did remember someone in between… he remembered a person that, annoying him at first, he quickly let that person stick to his side as they fought against Dumas, and latter that person supported while he went away to somewhere… and then when he was fighting with the Dark Matter…

Lucian stretched out, blinking as he groaned, closing his eyes afterwards at the sudden headache. Aaron managed to stick his fingers in and his Dark Matter started to roam around his mind, trying to find the memories of Lucian's life to see if he could use them to bring him back, although the first ones Aaron found out were from thirty years ago, and some of them made Lucian trash around and roar in anger and pain, awaking the hands once again and put in danger the stability of the chamber. He had to fill his body with the Dark Matter to control Lucian's anger, and that made his eyes turn red. He felt his fangs grow but he didn't repair in that as he cradle Lucian's head with his arms, trying to keep him still with his legs.

"I'm sorry about that…", he whispered, kissing Lucian's lips and then his forehead, when he had run into the memory of when he lost Ella against Dumas. "But I'm here still, I'm still alive, I'm still at your side to guide you…", said as he started to cry. He was getting frustrated for not being able to do what he was supposed to do and, at the same time, he was crying because of the time spent with Lucian and how he loved each of it, and being able to sense Lucian's feelings from those moments made his heart jump in joy. "I'm not going to leave you, I'm here…", he whispered again.

Lucian moaned in pain, twisting between the boy's legs and arms upon one of the memories he had, one where Aaron almost lost his life in one of the missions that Ernest sent him with his group. The vampire had stayed at the boy's side day and night, not eating, not drinking, and not sleeping only watching over Aaron's vital signs until he woke up. After that, Lucian brings him everything he needed and stayed when the boy needed it, helping him go to the bathroom and to eat. Until the doctor didn't say he was all recovered, Lucian didn't rest.

"You remember it?", said Aaron with a smile on his face, rubbing his nose on Lucian's. "Do you? Your face was the first thing I saw when I regained consciousness… and I was so glad, so happy I could see you again.", he felt warm tears leave Lucian's eyes as he smiled widely now, snuggling on him.

"…Aaron…", said in such low tone that if Aaron hadn't been that close to Lucian, he wouldn't be able to hear it.

"And do you remember the times when you went into training, how I visited you everyday and how we used to hang out before the sunset?", the boy dug his fingers deeper into Lucian's head, searching for those memories. "You were so angry to find out Dumas was alive---H-Hey!", the boy tried to calm Lucian down as soon as he said the horned man's name, something that obviously the vampire hated to hear in those moments. "That you swore to finally master your weapons, but you had to depart from Acuna, far off the mountains where you could summon your Dark Matter freely and not harm anyone, not harm me…!", the boy gasped in pain when he felt the pressure of the Beast trying to push him outside Lucian's mind. "Then you cursed yourself when you found out you were turning a vampire, you fled because you were worried you would hurt me, but I missed you so much those two weeks you fled, I was so worried about you, thinking someone had hurt you.", Aaron started to cry again, hugging Lucian closer. "Why couldn't you see I didn't care about that? I love you the way you are… Vampire or not, you are _my _Lucian…"

Lucian remembered, he remembered the time he fled from the Inn when he found out his powers were reacting to the Moon, scared he would lose control, scared he would do something to his precious person. The vampire's eye recovered bits of their glow, but Aaron knew he wasn't back yet. He kept digging and reviving those locked memories about them, and Lucian seemed to slowly recover his conscious.

"…I need you Lucian…", whispered the boy, nuzzling his neck as he heard him sigh deeply. "I need you so badly…"

"…my child…", answered the man, twisting around when Vanargandr's bony body roared in anger and the hands tried to, once more, try to rip Aaron from Lucian's side but, this time, the hands couldn't even reach the boy. "My loving child…", repeated.

The locks were loose, and the memories and emotions started to flow into his mind, and Lucian started to revive each moment as it passed before him. He remembered his childhood along Hel, he remembered the first time he saw Carmilla and how both of them developed a close relationship, he remembered when she died and when he fought along his younger brother, when they returned to San Miguel, when they beat Jormungandr, when Ratatosk kidnapped him, when he fused with Vannargandr, the pain he felt and the relieve he felt when he finally met Aaron, when both of them started to hang out more and more, to know about each other and how Lucian felt complete when being with him, how he felt so good with him.

Carmilla smiled, and her body turned into stone before it turned into dust. In the place where she once stood, a bright, yellow energy sphere was seen. It dashed quickly towards Aaron and it penetrated into his chest, barely feeling it. Lucian, on the contrary, whined in pain and twisted in Aaron's arms. The boy saw how a same yellow energy sphere came from him before turning grey and return to the man's body. When it did, Aaron felt Lucian's being _inside_ him, a very weird feeling but the boy now felt… complete. The man had been trembling while this lasted, but now he had calmed down and was resting in the boy's arms.

Aaron's eye recovered their usual warm grey color, but the pupils remained like thin lines. The fangs returned to their usual length, but they were sharper that normal ones, and the Dark Matter retreated when Lucian's energy filled Aaron's body slowly. The bony creature behind them stood still, turning into stone as the hands fell on the bony ground.

The boy smiled when he saw Lucian's eyes, his normal red eyes, open and lock their gaze in Aaron's one. The man widened them in surprise then, he returned the smile the boy gave him and, shooting his arms up, he hugged his mate closer, sighing.

"I love you.", whispered Lucian while he sat between the boy's legs to held him close to his chest.

Aaron didn't reply, he simply smiled. He felt now too tired to move or talk, so he just rested on his mate's chest, letting the darkness around him, when the chamber disappeared, slowly pull him and Perrault towards unconsciousness


	37. Chapter 37

This kinda turned out... uh, well, I like it and don't like it at the same time, since I do want to finish this story for once since my brain really can't take it all these stuff, but I'm making an effort so the chapters come out nice. XD Anyway, thanks for the reviews guys, I appreciate them!

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37

The shadows covered Acuna entirely. Everything was pitch black, nothing could be seen from the distance. Even when instants ago the living shadows seemed to be a mass of liquid running around, now they were still. There was no sign of movement in them as they stood over the buildings and street like a big black sheet, and the reason was quiet simple actually and it was because Vanargandr was also staying still in the middle of Acuna. Jormungandr watched from his spot on the tower and Hel, who was sitting on the snake's head, also watched from there.

On the southern side of the city, that was still inside the strange barrier, something moved inside the black mess. Something emerge from them and, in little time, a coyboy styled hat could be seen before Dyango's head fully came out. He coughed and spitted what he swallowed of that black mess that tasted like crap, moving his arms around to remove the shadows that were covering him. He took of enough of them to free his upper body and discover the white hair of Dainn. The shapeshifter gasped when the air went inside his lungs from his mouth and nose. Coughing much like Dyango, he raised his gaze.

"...this was totally not the way I pictured my death...", whispered as he threw up more of that black thing.

Both of them had superficial injuries like cuts but nothing too serious, although they bleed a lot to actually damp their clothes a bright red. Dyango's shirt and coat were stained with his own blood and Dainn's cloack too, but being them all black it was hard to see. To Dyango's left there was some movement and Bea's head was seen. She shook it and tried to free herself and, seeing she had a hard time, the young man helped her. As soon as he started to dig around, he smelled her blood and heard a whimper when he reached his bottom half. He finished putting away all the black mess to be able to help her and, when he reached her waist, he noticed a round, hard thing impaling the woman's leg. From the injury, he felt the river of blood coming from.

"Seems you are stuck or something.", murmurred the young man. The rest of the people started to get themselves free once they noticed the shadows were moving at all.

"Watch were you're touching!!", yelled Bea, blushin in embarrassment when she felt the hands of Dyango moving where they shouldn't.

"I'm sorry, but it's hard to see between all this thing.", answered with a naughty smile on his face. "It looks like it didn't piercer your femoral vein so you would not bleed to death..."

"...but?"

"Well, I can't see what's happening but from what I feel, I don't know if I will manage to take this thing off. It's a very delicate place and, if the damage is irreversible...", he sighed and stood up, locking his gaze with Bea's. "We will have to cut it out."

Bea tightened her teeth and both of them heard Dainn snap his tongue.

"It's just a leg, anyway."

"Shut it, Dainn.", growled Dyango to him. "Go help the others in getting away off this... gross black thing."

The albino vampire mumbled incoherently under his breath but stood up and walked past them to help the humans, althoug Lobreta managed to get away pretty well on her own much like the rest of the vampires. They weren't as bad as they though, getting a bunch of cuts like Dyango and Dainn got but upon seeing Bea's state and other humans in similar fashion, Lobreta wondered if that black thing attacked humans more aggressively than vampires. While Dyango said he didn't know that for sure, he said it would be probably seeing how his older brother held a grudge against humans deep within him.

Lobreta and Dyango took off as much as they could of that black mass surrounding Bea, except what it was piercing her leg that ended being comething similar to a huge fang. The woman rested over the barrier and looked down, trying to hold her nauseas at the great injury she had down there. The fang completely ripped her leg appart except for a small piece of flesh and tendons which was the only thing that was holding the leg in place. The blood died her uniform a bright crimson because of it. Lobreta said it could be put it back and reconect all the nerves and veins with a surgery as long as they could get away as soon as posible, but the urgent thing now was to close her injury to stop the bleeding. Bea sighed and let Lobreta cut the remaining flesh and put the leg away, while Dyango used his powers to numb the injury and try to easy some pain to the woman as Lobreta took a needle and some tread from hidden pockets in her clothes and started to work. Since they didn't have bandages to cover it, a vampire acceed to give his torn shirt to replace the bandage and cover the exposed zone. It wasn't the best for her, but it was all they could do. Dyango covered the leg with his coat and left it next to her.

Lastly, everyone manage to come out from the mass thing. The humans, much like Lobreta said, were the ones in worst conditions. Some of them had superficial cuts and other deeper ones, some others had missing limbs like in Bea's case, so Lobreta had to work quickly with her needle before they fainted after a huge blood lose, although luckily no one died, and the Terrennials came out completely unharmed. Toasty was the most shocked upon seeing the fact that they all survived to the attack. Something happened with the Beast, something was wrong, but they were still inside the barrier y it was still a pain to break, so they still had work to do if they wanted to escape.

A few meters away from them, Hoshii's head poped out from the mess. She inhaled deeply a huge puff of hair and quickly started to move around in getting off the mess. She found Gunda and helped him in getting out seeing how the rest of the soldiers did the same. Hoshii's nose was broken and bleeding like her right eye. She had several cuts all over her body that, although superficial, they ache like hell. Dumas and Nish slowly made their appearance. The albino vampire flapped his wings only to whine in pain and noticing one of them was broken much like his nose and one of his horns. He took the attack instead of Dumas who was unharmed because Nish shielded him. Nish stood and used his tail to push away the mess and create a path for them to walk freely both of them. Kay and Ernest were the last ones in being found, and from both Ernest was the one in worst conditions. He lost his left eye and right ear, a few ribs were broken too and minor cuts on his body. Kay got it lucky as he only broke his right arm, which was twisted in a funny angle. Gunda had more scars to add to his collection and his right ear, much like Ernest's one, was missing.

"We survived?", asked in horsed voice Hoshii, standing next to Gunda. The shadows were still surrounding them, but none of them twitched a bit when the people moved around, and it felt like being inside a big pool filled with a paste of flour and water.

"Seems so, but I can't think of a logic reason for it.", said Gunda.

"Obviously something happened with Vanargandr.", intervined Dumas. "Whatever had just happened with him, it stopped the shadow's attack, although we yet have to find a way of getting out of here because if Vanargandr awakes, we will not be so lucky like the first time."

They agreed with him and Gunda said they should look up for the others. He let Ernest hang on his back seeing he was the most injured from all, while Dumas flew up and noticed Dyango's group not so far from them. They moved and they all reunited in a single place and Lobreta started to fix the other's injuries with the left overs of the tread she had. After that, everyone sat down and started to evaluate their possibilities.

They already noticed that even with all that movement, the shadows didn't respond nor it did Vanargandr even when they seemed to be connected to him somehow. Dyango explained it was probably because the Beast was indeed uncouncious. Even so, he managed to communicate with Jormungandr with hisses and whispers that, upon hearing them, the snake uncurled from his spot, got down and slithered in the black mass to meet him, but Dyango couldn't feel in those moments the energy of Vanargandr or his own brother.

"Isn't that a good thing, though?", said Kay to the young man.

"Yes and no. Yes, because that means Vanargandr had been sealed in some sort of manner and no, because if he wakes up and there isn't someone to control it, we will be in deep problems since we woulnd't have our hands over the vessel to be able to control Vanargandr's power.", the man took off his dirty hat and sighed. "If Saba---I mean, Lucian had been absorbed completely by Vanargandr then we don't have much chances in sealing it back again. The Lunar Tribe could make it because they draw on their magic but now that its extinct and their text jelaousy kept on the moon we can't do much about it using our own powers.

"There must be a way, though...", groaned Toasty. Him and the rest of the Terrennials had shrunken to their original forms after the amount of energy they used to sustain the attack although Toasty demanded more from him since he protected Ezra from it. "Hey, didn't Lucian kidnap Aaron time ago?"

"Yeah, what's with him anyway?", said Nish.

"Aaron is Lucian's mate, right?", said as everyone looked at him without understanding. "Aaron could... I don't know, control him or something, the same way he did when Oyan captured both of them."

Alexander nodded.

"Could work, if he is still alive and wants to do it. He might have had a change of heart y refuse to do it but, if he is willing to do it, I seriously doubt he could against someone like Vanargandr.", opined the owl.

"Vanargandr and Lucian not only share a same body, but a same soul and mind.", explained Dyango. "If Aaron could just get a hold of one of them, it would be a bit easier to try and seal Vanargandr, but I'm more concerned on how long he will be able to do so. Aaron is still a human and even having the Dark Matter in his body, it's not his and could end up being manipulated by the Beast instead."

Everyone heard a soft growl in the distance and everyone stood up in a defense mode only to see it was just Jormungandr arriving to their group. The snake stopped a few meters away from them and curled on his body, waiting for Dyango's orders.

"Finding him will be a great challenge. Considering he is Saba---I mean, Lucian's mate it's for sure he used Vanargandr's body to protect him from corrupting from the dark clouds.", he bit his bottom lip. "If that's the case, then we will have approach and dig around Vanargandr's body."

"It's more than known that _no one_ wants or _wants_ to do it.", said Dumas and everyone, surprisingly, agreed with him.

"Well, I can't argue because I don't want to either, but it's something we have to do and remember we're still inside the barrier, which is a great disadvantage. Jormungandr can help us to entretain Vanargandr for a while. Saba---I mean, Lucian firmly stood upon him as his master and lord, and I don't think he will disobey him if my brother orders him to kill us."

"What do you suggest, then?", asked Gunda, worried. "We aren't in our best conditions either. I mean, look at Ernest, he barely can stand."

"I know what you mean. We will need the Terrennial's help in that case... Hey, where's the Luna Terrennial?", asked as he interrupted himself upon not seeing the lilac cat that followed Dumas around.

"Your fucking brother took her.", answered the horned vampire with disdain.

"Hm, that complicates things a bit.", he rubbed his chin, looking at Dumas for a few seconds. "Luna is like a null element and a wildcard for other elements, but it doesn't do damage to vampires, humans or monsters at all. However, being it a wildcard, it amplifies the base elements so mixing Luna with Sol you obtain a more powerful power. The same goes with Dark, although Dark has a tendency to absorb and destroy this energy in some cases. This is why Terrennials can trance with humans and vampires."

"I quiet don't get your logic.", interrupted Nish. "I'm certain I don't held Luna energy in me and I was able to fuse with Ezra. Aren't Terrennials those who choose who they want to fuse with?"

"Not really.", answered Toasty. "Sol and Luna are present in every living thing from this planet, including vampires, although it's nonexistant in them, the presence is still there. It depends on how much it had grown and how strong it is to create an effective trance. Luna element has a unique cuality of purification, even greater than Earth. With a constant exposition to it, a vampire can revert to a human in matter of years. The rest of the elements has their roots in Luna too since from it they are created. Each one has a little bit of Luna inside us, but only Lunar Children can wield and manipulate it at will, much like Solar Children could hold onto Sol and Dark Childre, vampires, can hold onto Dark."

"So that means that any Terrennial can acceed in trance mode with any human.", said Nish and Toasty nodded.

"Though it will depend on how strong is that energy, as I have said. I never done it with anyother human besides Aaron, so I wouldn't know."

"And now that Vanargandr had captured Perrault means it will be impossible for us to beat it with sunlight.", said Dumas and Dyango nodded.

Everyone mumbled angrily but since it was Dyango the one that suggested going to look up for Aaron, he was the one choose to do the task. The Terrennials followed his lead like Jormungandr who started to move as soon as Dyango did. The young man didn't have an exact idea of what to expect once arriving, he didn't want to wake it up so he could keep destroying. The first time he encountered with him it was a hard job but now that they were more linked with each other Dyango asked himself if he could really separate them.

Some cracking noises made them lift his gaze and saw how the bones from the Beast's column moved, creating that particular sound. He turned around and called Jormungandr, jumping over his head and slithering with it on the streets. The Terrennials hold down tight on the man's shoulders, who could saw from the distance the small spams from the body. It seemed that their time was running out. Dyango cheered the snake to go faster, but they were stopped by a creature that came out from the black mess and launched towards the snake. It howled in anger and tried to tackled the snake but Dyango took out from his belt the Gun del Hell he managed to retrieve before he met up with the group of Terrennials and before Vanargandr decided to conceal them inside the barrier. He shot several times against the black mess and it started to fall down, revealin a dirty, blueish fur underneath and soon, the head of the wolf creature that was attacking them. It was a medium size wolf, and barely two people could sit on its back, but it surprised him that the wolf exhale a cold and icy breath and froze hsi surroundings.

"Garmr?", whispered Dyango, shoting still until the black mess finally fell down from the snow ice wolf, wolf whom in past times were one of the two guardians from the Lunar Tribe who now was standing still against Dyango furious, growling and showing his fangs.

It was odd that Lucian managed to summon Vanargandr with an altered physical form when him and Jormungandr couldn't do it in the first place. It seemed that it was Garmr the entire time with a black cloak of Dark Matter to disguise himself as the Destruction Beast. Jormungandr hissed and prepared to attack when a giant ball covered with the same mess approached them at high speed. The snake curled and endured the great hit. The snake then lifted his head and they could see how the ball trembled to get off the mess of it, leaving in plain sight the solid iron body of a golem. Dyango curssed under his breath when the golem roared and crushed with his huge hands the land beneath it. It returned to his ball shape and launched towards Jormungandr again.

Jormungandr hissed in pain when the golem hit him hard with his sturd body. He opened his huge jaws and took it in between them, throwing the giant golem Muspell against the buildings and bringing them down. Garmr howled and launched himself towards the snake and tried to tackled the giant snake, but the result wasn't the same one as the one of Muspell. Instead, he was tangled in a battle with Ezra, who had summoned her Burst mode and had transformed into an artic fox of Garmr's size, her tail had divided in seven other tails and her body turned lean. She jumped and tackled Garmr, throwing him on the floor and bit his neck. Meanwhile, Muspell had recovered from the attack and was about to ram again when an earth column stopped him. Tove had appeared in mid air and, just like Ezra, had summoned his Burst mode, being a same size as the golem. It let him increase his powers near one hundred percent and making him physically strong enough to endure Muspell's attacks.

"Tove!", screamed Alexander. "What are you doing here? How did you manage to get inside?"

"The barrier is only over the ground so I came beneath the ground.", answered the Terrennial. "Virginia manage to contact me with her powers and said you guys needed help.", he oppened his huge claws and blocked Muspell's rolling attack. "Keep going, Ezra and I will take care of them."

"What about Ursula?", asked Nero while Jormungandr uncurled and started moving again.

"She's in a very bad shape. She is getting weaker at sustaining Rymer's soul and body, but she insisted in coming too. Ursula is with Dumas and the others now.", explained Tove. Muspell took him off guard and could lunge towards him, to what the Terrennial answered creating around him an earth prison where he squeezed Muspell with.

They left the fight behind when Jormungandr turned around a corner. Nero now was worried about Urusla's health. If she was having a hard time in keeping Rymer's soul and body alive was because her own soul wasn't in syncro with his, so sooner or later the vampire was going to be consumed by her powers and his sould would be freed the same way it was when Lucian first purified him. It was dangerous for Ursula because it involved not only her physical form, but her powers too. In a vain attemp in keeping the vampire alive, he could absorv her vital energy and it would their lives. Nero had hopes that after sealing Vanargandr again she could retrain her powers if Rymer sacrified himself to prevent the Terrennial from fading away. Dumas was not going to be very happy about it but their relationship died the moment Lucian killed Rymer and it had no case looking back and sympathize with it.

Jormungandr finally arrived to the still body of Vanargandr. Once there, they could hear clearly the snapping sounds of the bones and Dyango shivered upon that. It didn't seem it was concious, though, and any movement came from the Beast either. The snake returned to his previous spot, the bridge that bonded the two towers together, and there he will stay even if Dyango needed his help later.

The young vampire and the Terrennials approached carefully, they touched the body and even climbed but Vanargandr didn't move. Dyango stood still, thinking, and really worried about what could happen. It wasn't normal seeing that his brother was inside and being controled by the Beast. Besides, he didn't know of anyone else capable of wielding the intense power and energy from Vanargandr that wasn't already part of the Lunar Tribe. He would have done it too if Ratatosk didn't pick Sabata over him. However, there he was, paused in time.

"It's so odd.", whispered the young vampire as he walked near one of the hands. "But I can't find a logical explanation to it."

"Could we just take advantage of the situation and simply seal him from once?", asked Alexander.

"Yes, but we don't know if your energy will eventually wake it up, and we don't know either if Aaron's body is still inside or if Vanargandr absorbed him too, the same way it did with Saba---I mean, Lucian. If we do it, then Aaron will be sealed with it without being able to escape unless the spell breaks like the first time it happened."

But in the middle of their speak, the Beast moved. They watched in horror how both hands started to float from the ground and his single eye acquire it's red shine. He opened his mouth and let a fierce roar come out. The bones cracked again and Dyango swalled hard when Vanargandr looked at him. He felt that little they could do about it now. Vanargandr had already awoke from whatever happened with him and, when the Beast recogniced the one in front of him, he opened his mouth and launched towards him. Dyango asked Nero to contact the vampires and the rest of the Terrennials to come and aid him. The black mess disappeared from oen second to another and Dyango and the Terrennials stuck fighting with Vanargandr until the rest came.

As they waited, the could see a faint purple glow come from the inside of the Beast. Alexander's feathers stood straight upon sensing the energy coming from it. Tying to not get so tempted by it, he kept fighting like the other Terrennials and the vampires that slowly appeared from the shadows to help, but the energy was so strong he couldn't help himself. When Vanargandr stood straight to give another attack, the glow from his body was even stronger now and the Terrennial, out of the sudden, summoned his Burst mode transforming into a bigger owl which wing span was even taller than Rymer. He opened his wings and, giving strong flaps, flew towards Vanargandr envolved in a strong, wind barrier that broke and opened a huge hole on the bones before he was lost inside. Even then, the Beast kept fighting like nothing had happened, as if Alexander never had pierced him in the first place.

Toasty started to ask himself why would Alxender do something like that. Did he succum to Vanargandr's powers? Nero mentioned, during the fight, that he felt insecure against the Beast, but everyone thought he was scared as fuck at fighting someone like him. And if it was all Vanargandr's absorbent power? Much like it happened to Lucian years ago, it was impossible to stop the fusion between the Beast and his body, so it shouldn't be so different with other creatures including the Terrennials and, seeing as Lucian's thrist for power was big, this might influence it too. Toasty was no worrying that Vanargandr would absorb the Terrennials to gather their powers and, this way, become even more powerful. He already took Perrault's and Alexander's ones. If he managed to gather the Sun's power, he would be invencible.

Vanargandr growled, standing straight again as he scratched his torso, on the place where his hole was. Everyone could see the same strong and purple light from the hole that Alexander created and, from it, a strong wind breeze came out that made the hole even bigger than before. The Beast roared in anger and started to spin around, watching with rage at the figure that was enveloped in the sacred winds that run across the planet. Vanargandr opened his mouth and shot a dark, red ray towards it but it bounced on the shield of wind it formed around the figure. Upon noticing, the Beast roared again and launched to the figure, only to receive a strong kick that nearly knock him down.

It seemed that Alexander wasn't absorbed by Vanargandr, but came to Aaron's aid. Both of them managed to achieve a superior trance that let the boy acquire to the Wind's power completely, transforming into a Wind Avatar much like Dyango used to do with Otenko to summon the Sun's power on the planet.

The suit he was wearing resembled a lot to the Terrennial's appearence, especially the two-tailed and sleevless coat. It was black with two purple lines running down on the front. Near the neck, there were two yellow buttons. Underneath it, the boy seemed to wear a one piece blue suit since his torso and legs were covered with it but he yet wear a two toned pant that reached his knees. The inner legs were purple while the exterior was black, with a belt the same color as the suit and a yellow medal was around his waist. The boots on his feet were nothing else and nothing more than the legendary Sky Runners, boots that were blessed by Alexander's power for one legendary warrior to use, and were the ones that let the boy fly and float in the air without wings. Each boot had three propellers that were the ones allowing Aaron to fly by shooting a strong wind from them. He could control the strenght and speed of them. These boots had a pair of wings attached at the ankles and were colored with black, yellow, purple and blue. His usual red gloved turned black and over the top, three yellow claws were formed that, when he swing them, it created razor winds that cut through everything. He also wore thinner and purple gloves that went up to his shoulders. Around his neck rested his usual red scarf and, sintead of having green gogles, he now gore a purple and black visor.

"...How?", said Dyango upon seeing how graceful Aaron dogded Vanargandr's attacks.

"Who cares? We have more chances of winning like this!", answered Toasty with a grin.

Aaron swun his right arm seeing as he was holding Perrault on the other. Since she couldn't summon her powers, he took care of her until he managed to find Dumas and give her to him.

The hit that the Beast received made him flinch, but seconds later he opened his mouth and tried to eat the boy of a single bite. Aaron activated his boots and shot upstraight before spinning and coming down to give another kick to Vanargandr, that whined in pain and roared in anger. Taking advantage he was momentally down, the rest of the vampires and Terrennials started to attack where they could easily do more damange, which was the hole that was exposing Vanargandr's interior.

Vanargandr twisted in pain but, at the same time, he laughed before shoting the same dark red light. He made a huge trench on the ground and were the group was scattered around and then he created a second pair of hands that started to move around between his enemies. That would keep them entretained as the Beast turned his attention to Aaron, who was still standing in the air. Vanargandr roared at him and launched, being stopped by Dyango's and Toasty's attack, just to see said attacks twiste and being redirected to the huge hole on his chest. Confused, they attacked again and watched again how the attacks hit his chest instead of his main body. Why would it redirect attacks to his weaker place? He was powerful enough to wield them most of them, why would he let them do that?

Without thinking about it, they kept attacking and seeing how they were redirected. They hoped Vanargandr soon fell down and give up, but it was Dainn's shout that made them stop. The Beats stood and smashed Nish on the ground with one of his hands and hit other vampire with his massive head, and a third hand hit his own chest to open the hole wider. When Vanargandr stood straight, a scream died in Aaron's throat when everyone saw that he was redirecting the attacks to Lucian, who seemed a bit tired and beated up because of them, but was still wide awake.

"He is trying to knock him off.", whispered Dyango to Aaron, who landed next to him. "If he goes unconcious again, Vanargandr will be able to control him better. Now he is awake, both are struggling, although I wonder how he awoke in the first place..."

"I did it using my powers.", said Aaron. Vanargandr growled, yet he stood still in place. As Dyango said, he was now struggling with Lucian's will that was trying to overcome his. "I'm pretty sure he will stay awake for a long while now."

"We have a chance, then.", said smiling the young vampire. "With the Terrennial's help que might end up sealing him, but if we want to save Lucian we will have to come for him first.", added looking at Aaron, who nodded. "We will do the following; you will use your dark ropes and will hold him down while I go inside and try to get Saba---I mean, Lucian out. Toasty, could you gather all Terrennials in a single group?", the sunflowed nodded and floated away.

"We should call for Stoker and Rymer.", suggested Nidhoggr, approaching Dyango. "And the Viscounts too. Even when Terrennials can use their powers they can't reach a more advanced statues without the aid of someone who can canalize their powers, much like Alexander just did with Aaron."

Dyango agreed and let Nidhoggr do his job, which was to keep Vanargandr entretained while the rest get prepared. Toasty talked with Nero so he could contact Ezra and Tove and also to talk with the only two vampires left in the Vambery. Aaron left Perrault with the other Terrennials when they came to his side, he took off his gloves and made small cuts all over his palms. Soon, his blood started to flow and his Dark Matter started to mix with it, moving on their will as they climbed up in the air towards Vanargandr. The Beast, upon noticing, roared angrily and turned his attention to the boy. Nish tried to distract him by freezing up one of the hands and then smashing it to pieces, but Vanargandr seemed to not care as he advanced towards Aaron.

The Terrennials were the ones that managed to distract him by letting their energy flow around the Beast, that soon tried to catch or swallow them but, being so small, he couldn't just grab them. With Vanargandr focused on them, Aaron managed to stretch the ropes long enough to wrap them around the Beast's mouth and close it tightly. Quickly, his hands and body followed and soon, Vanargandr was unable to move around yet his oozes wondered around. They were a big problem since no physical attack could harm them, but Toasty managed to destroy them using his strong sunlight powers. The rest would have to keep them entretained until the job was done.

Ezra, Tove and Ursula appeared next to Toasty and, at the same time Soker and Rymer appeared underneath Dainn's shadow while the Viscoutns did it fomr Dyango's one. Once the were all grouped and sure Vanargandr couldn't move nor attack, explained that with the Terrennial's powers they could create a seal similar to the one the Lunar Tribe used the first time the Beast was sealed although Vanargandr's body would stay at everyone's sight after it, but it wasn't that important now. Canalizing their powers in Perrault, being her the Luna Terrennial, could amplify their energy and create an even more powerful seal than the first one. She said that she didn't have her powers anymore but Dyango said that as long as she was the Terrennial, she could do it regardless of not being able to summon them.

Aaron stood in front of Vanargandr, while the Terrennials floated at the Beats's head height, all of them in a perfect circle, while Perrault stayed on ground a few steps away from Aaron. Rymer stood under Ursula, Stoker under Ezra and Virginia under Tove. Alexander de-fused with the boy and stood next to Tove while Edgar took his place under him. Toasty stood above Aaron and Nero let Dumas help him. Perrault stretched her arms out and opened her wings. From the tips of her fingers, small lilac energy balls, those Aaron saw when he entered Lucian's mind, flew in the air and surrounded the Terrennials, and each of them started to glow in their distinctive color when feeling these energy balls dance around them while they were observed by an angry Vanargandr.

Once set, Dyango went straight to Vanargandr's body and started to climb over the bones and skulls, dodging the random attacks from the oozes that slipped through them. Clumsyly, he made it to the edge of the hole and saw a mass of flesh moving around. He felt a nauseaous feeling in his stomach but tried to ignore it as he climbed up and went to Lucian's side.

"...what are you doing here?", whispered the man almost without strenght to talk. "...go away, there is nothing you can do here..."

"Oh, come one.", laughed the young vampire as he looked down his brother. "You can't give up that easily. It's no the first time you die.", Dyango's hands turned black and from them, large and sharp claws grew that used to cut the flesh around Lucian's body. "You managed to restrain Vanargandr all these years, you deserve some merit. I don't think mum could have done it."

Lucian's mouth twisted in a half smile. When he lifted his head he saw the different colored glows and felt the different types of energy that were surrounding the bony body. He frowned and looked up to Dyango.

"...what are they doing?", he moaned in pain when a rib from the mass of bones pierced through his chest and one of his lungs when his brother tried to move him.

"Don't worry, just hang on until they're finished.", he felt Lucian relax but not for relief, but as a defeat. "Damn it, don't do this now Sabata."

"...it's impossible.", whispered Lucian. "I don't have the moon's power anymore, I don't have its blessing. How are you going to seal such massive beast like Vanargandr without them?"

"If you help me to help you, then you will see it once we manage to get the hell out of here.", answered a bit angry the young man.

Outside, the Terrennials were in syncro already. The vampires under them were using their own powers to transmit them to Perrault. Between her hands there was an energy sphere that was spinning like crazy of a white color, but sometimes it changed its color. Vanargandr fought in his restrains and Aaron tried to get him down each time he did so, being helped by the rest of the vampires that used their Dark Matter to make the ropes thicker and stronger. Finally, the Beast gave up and flopped his head on the ground, watching Aaron with his single eye. Trying a desperately move to get himself free, Vanargandr made a purring noise, softer than a growl. He rubbed gently his snout against the boy, but Aaron flinched and stepped backwards. He tried hard that those things didn't affect him, he already had enough when he brought Lucian's consciousness back and when he was forced to take off the bullet, however, he started to question again up to how much the Beast and Lucian were fused. Aaron felt a hand tightening over his shoulder and, when turned, saw Nish behind him.

"Don't lose your composure.", was his advice. Aaron tightened his hands on the ropes and tried to ignore the second rub Vanargandr gave him.

"If it was that easy…", answered with a faint smile.

The Terrennials were at their maximum power and Perrault managed to create several white rings around the Beast. This tightened around him, cutting and fading the ropes from the boy, but Dyango was still trying to get his brother out of the main body. The flesh kept moving and sticking Lucian to the bones.

"W-Wait…", said Lucian when one of his arms was now free. "Aaron's down there, right?", Dyango nodded. "Good…"

He enveloped his hand with a thick layer of black Dark Matter and stuck it inside his body, moving it around a few seconds until he managed to take out the familiar board sword he used in his hunting. It was active, with the edge of the sword and the eye glowing in a crimson red light, lightly opened. He didn't have much strength in those moments, but managed to lift it and drop it from where he was. The sword fell and made a rather loud and dry noise when it hit ground, where it bounced one time before it stuck on the ground. Aaron jumped at the sudden noise and the rest of the vampires looked at each other while the Beast stood straight to see what had happened. He roared loudly when he saw the sword emitting energy from within and started to struggle and tried to hit the ones surrounding him with his massive head, but the light rings forced him to stand in only one position.

"_He is a liar!!"_, said an angry, dry voice. _"He is using you all, he doesn't care if you die by sealing me!!"_, it growled and Vanarganrd managed to break the ring that was enclosing his mouth as he watched Aaron carefully. _"He is not who you think he is. He planned it all, from the beginning…"_, it took them a while to figure out it was Vanargandr who was doing all the talking. _"He planned it the moment he was made prisoner…"_, the Beast whined when glowing white runes appeared on his body. _"I should… I should have known you would use me too. But the temptation of freedom was too strong and you took advantage of it, didn't you? You are one mother fucking bastard. Even I, an Ancestral, was fooled by your games, and now you pretend acquire my powers by emptying my body from its soul?"_

Dyango could at last free Lucian's body, which also had the same runes all over his body, the same ones that appeared the night that he returned to Sheridan's mansion after his transformation. The Terrennials were barely seen due to the strong light that was coming out from their bodies, and Perrault was ready to seal Vanargandr, who growled again, but he wasn't really in position to do anything now since it was him, not Lucian, who was vulnerable to his powers, powers that were transferred to the man when he was still inside. Now, Vanargandr was merely a pile of bones with one fading soul and he couldn't prevent it. He felt how Dyango and his brother jumped from his body and landed on the ground and how Lucian, using his powers, circled the sword with them and shatter the sword with them, the little pieces fading in mid air. Vanargandr roared for a last time before he fell down on the ground, completely defeated. The single eye of the Beast turned a dull yellow before it turned to stone like the rest of his bony body. The runes gave an intense glow and the Terrennials did the same. Perrault stretched out her arms and, over Vanargandr, appeared tubular light forms that soon transformed into gigantic crosses. These crosses pierced the Beast's body with strength and twenty of them went through him.

Perrault then fainted after the huge energy she used, and the Terrennials weakened a lot too. Virginia fell on her knees without being able to keep standing, bleeding from her injuries. Edgar was in similar conditions and Rymer and Stoker watched how their own bodies started to rot away. Nero fainted on Dumas' arms since he was still a part of Perrault, he suffered from the same energy lose than her. Nidhoggr and Dainn were the first ones in approaching the sealed body of Vanargandr and tried to open a hole to help the two vampires inside get out.

"Are you alive, at least?", asked Nidhoggr.

"Of course we are. It will take more than just an Ancestral to kill us.", was Dyango's answer that made Dainn smile. "Don't waste your time, I think I can take myself and Sabata out from this.."

"T-Then…", whispered Dumas, eyeing Vanargandr's body. Nero opened his eyes and looked at him. "Is it all over?"

"Yes.", said the cat as he curled on the man's arms. "Everything is over."


	38. Chapter 38

I had been thinking over and over and over this last chapter. Everything I did didn't come out the way I liked. Once it started to come out as I wanted, I was blocked. Collage started and couldn't find the time or the will to continue it. Another idea crossed my mind one time I was re-reading the whole stuff (idea I'm currently working on and already have around 7-8 chapters of it), and thought it would be nice to break from this story for a while until I was clear enough to think again on it. That time came and, with it, the final chapter of this story it took me two years to finally finish. Yes, I'm proud of it you could say. I learned a lot about story-telling, about grammar (lol) and other stuff. You clearly can see how I changed my way of writing over the time in this particular story and I'm glad I managed to catch a bit about it. I'm well aware there aren't going to be a lot of people getting in their e-mail account the alert that this story has a new and last chapter, but I'm relieved with the thought of finally finish it, so that's everything I need right now. Though, I would love to read what you have to say about this last chapter.

I deeply thank you from the bottom of my heart the fact you came up to THIS point. So, now I will stop writing this sappy author's note and will let you enjoy the reading.

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38

The return to the Tower Laboratory Vambery felt odd, the sight of the crumbled buildings in Acuna and the bright morning Sun was odd too. It wasn't too long ago that they were surrounded by a pitch black darkness and they were trapped inside the city and now, everything came back to something close to normality, and it wasn't until they were out of it that they realized the countless of humans and vampires alike that managed to escape before Vanargandr went crazy. Most of them run away towards Thirdteen Street and the others went straight to the frontier. The ones that helped Oyan in taking over Acuna were slayed by Lucian when he was under the control of Vanargandr, and were the only humans that stayed behind in the city. The group of humans, that among them Lucian and Ezra reconized the vampire family they helped a while ago, was kind enough to help the tired and exhausted group to reach their destination. They were concerned about the Viscount's health status since their body seemed to desintegrate quickly. Stoker was clueless about it but said he would find what's wrong with them once they reached the Vambery.

Ernest, even though he was badly beaten up, was the one that lead the group. He started to talk to the man that seemed to lead the survivors group and told him that the people that assisted to the reunion in the Dark Castle were the ones that later warned them to leave early, even before the battle had begun. That's why when Oyan first arrived didn't find anyone except the ones joining him. Though Ernest would loved more help from what they got, it was a relief that there were many survivors among Acuna, and most of them were familiars or friends from the ones in the Vambery.

"Why didn't you people go to the Vambery, then, if you knew your friends would be there?"

"We would have been an easy target for the vampire hunters of the north and possibly Vanargandr, too, if we stayed all together. Being split appart guaranteed us our surviving, even though we were deep worried about the others."

Ernest took a deep sigh as he lifted his head to the sky. It was clear, not even a single cloud was in his sight, at last what he could still see from his unharmed eye and he remembered, back eleven years ago, how Kay and him returned without Trinity and Sartana, how they had to return to their hideout all beaten up and defeated. The feeling of humillation that Ernest felt when internally realized he had lost was strong, and the feeling of lose and sadness was even greater. It took him a while to get used to be the new leader but it took him more time to be able to get close to Aaron back then, as each time he saw the infant he saw the face of who had been like a father to him, and that made Ernest not want to stay in the Guild, to not want to keep it up anymore.

He was deeply surprised to see that Gunda came with Hoshii and a numerous group of his best soldiers. The last time he saw the canine-man was when he and Trinity discussed a few things about joining forces, but Gunda declined and left after the reunion was over. It was there that he knew that Gunda was actually Kay's father, the very one that kicked him out from home when he was a mere teenager. Despite the fact that Ernest knew Kay for a while now, the canine-man never spoke about it. He was wondering why would Gunda came this time and not when they would have needed him to beat Dumas and prevent evertything that came afterwards, but Ernest was more concerned about how Gunda's returning will impact in Kay's life, although the tanned man had a feeling that Kay wouldn't care at all.

Ernest turned around softly and gazed at the others and was amazed to see that Lucian was being helped by his brother and Dainn, while Aaron was actually quiet far away from the purple haired man. The boy was quiet, something odd in him, and wasn't really looking at anything in particular, just walking with the rest of the group. Next to him was Toasty, that had a visible tired look on his face, and was speechless too. Nish was next to Dumas, glaring at Rymer that was a few steps away from them carrying over his shoulder a tired Virginia and a sleeping Edgar in his arms. Stoker was next to the man talking in whispers with Nidhoggr. Bea was being carried over by Lobreta and seemed that the woman was about to faint from exhaustation at anytime. The Terrennials were all resting over shoulders, heads or arms of anyone. They were too tired after all the energy they gave in to seal Vanargandr, although the only one that seemed to keep it on his own was Alexander. He had too much pride to let others take care of him.

"Kay...", whispered Ernest and the canine-man approached his friend. "How do you feel?"

Kay arched his eyebrows.

"How do I feel?", the furred man rubbed his chin with his healthy hand for an instant. "I'm feeling a lot in this moment, but most of all, relief. Why?", Ernest shrugged.

"This is the first war that I had won, how I am supposed to feel? Because right now, I really don't feel anything."

Kay smirked and patted Ernest on his head.

"You will realize it with time. Right now, you have a swolled eye, a missing ear and whatnot. Maybe when all that physical pain goes away, you will be able to see it clearly."

"With just one eye remaining?", said Ernest with a smile.

"Well, Lucian had an eye-patch the entire time..."

Ernest started to laugh, and it felt good. His body enjoyed the feeling of relief, and felt also good to not be so tense, to just relax. The hard work from him and the others really paid off, and he was very glad about it. Yes, that's what he felt right now, he was glad. A new smile drew on his lips as he took a deep breath and let it out slowly, and smirked.

"This... is for you, Trinity.", whispered as he looked up to the sky.

The encounter in the Vambery from both sides made the entire group burst into tears and joyful screams, feeling excited and happy that they finally could see their loved ones alive, although not everyone managed to come alive, and a lot of people cried their lose, being comforted with soft pats on their shoulders or backs. Ernest thanked everyone from the bottom of his soul, unable to keep his tears from falling as each word left his mouth, and the whole group thanked him in return for staying up for them and fighting for the home they managed to retrieve.

The reunion was rather short for Ernest and the others as they urgently needed medical attention. Stoker and Tove were the ones that quickly took Bea to a surgery room taken out of the blue so they could repair veins, flesh, tendons and everything else so her life wasn't endangered. The rest had to wait until both of them were finished. Rymer took the Viscounts to a separate room and laid them on a bed. Hër and Hoshii appeared and helped the young vampires in bandaging up their bleeding wounds, while the rest of Gunda's soldiers helped in healing the other's wounds. Lobreta kindly cleaned Ernest's wounds, as the man seemed to collapse exhausted, so he could lie down and take the rightful rest he needed.

"How did you find out about what was happening here?", asked Kay to Gunda, who had his arm put back in place and was all wrapped up until they could mix up the ingredients to make his plaster. The young canid sat besides Gunda and the taller canid eyed him softly with his single eye and twitching his only ear.

"Alice told us. She and Hoshii are somewhat relatives and they talk pretty much everyday. Alice had told Hoshii about the north gunslingers and Lucian's pleas of help, and decided to come."

"…I never thought I would see you again.", whispered Kay after a long silence between them. Gunda remained silent, though. "You're never going to forgive me, are you?", asked, frowning. To his surprise, Gunda smiled softly.

"I did, but I'm hurt still, and that doesn't go away easily, even after so many years.", he sighed, entwining his fingers. "Your mother nearly killed me for what I did, but you deserved a punishment for disowning your _own_ family like that, although I never thought you would go that far."

"That far? What do you mean?"

"Well, I thought you would come later, after a few days, like you sometimes did when both argued, apologize for what you did but you never came. I grew so angry to see you run away like that… I really wanted to punch your face when you dared to come years later like nothing happened."

Kay smirked then, he sighed.

"I'm really sorry.", whispered, lowering his gaze. "I truly am."

"I know you are.", whispered back Gunda. "And I know that Trinity made you a better man, and that raised you better that I could have done back in our village. I'm happy to see that you have become a rightful man."

Kay smiled, not knowing what to say after that. Gunda returned him the smile and, a bit clumsy, patted his son on his back.

Hoshii was attending Lucian's wound, much to his despite since the girl couldn't just shut up. She was as annoying as Alice, although without those weird looking rabbit ears over her head. Aaron was sitting next to them, Dainn was also there while Dyango watched them from far away, laughing at each of his brother's demise. Aaron seemed a bit distant and wasn't really paying attention and didn't notice when Dainn talked to him. The vampire sighed and pinched the boy's arm.

"Ow! Why did you do that for?"

"Are you alright?", Dainn asked.

"Yeah..."

They fell in silence for a few seconds before Aaron sighed.

"Not really.", said afterwards. Dainn looked at him apatetically and smiled softly, urging the boy to continue. Aaron crawled closer to the vampire. "It's just... Now that the Beast is finally sealed, what will happen to me?"

"You mean because of the Dark Matter?", Aaron nodded. "Well, since Lucian is in his mind again, it shouldn't be a problem now. If you look closely, you will see your veins returned to normal after the Beast was sealed.", then Dainn softly parted Aaron's lips with his fingers, and hummed. "Interesting…"

"What?", asked the boy when the vampire petted his longer canines, although he couldn't notice it.

"Nothing.", said as he stood up and went to Dyango's side before disappearing in his shadow.

Aaron stood clueless in his seat, but shrugged off the feeling when Hoshii told him she finished healing up most of Lucian's wounds. The rest would heal with the regenerating power vampires have. She smiled at him before storming off to help others, and Aaron looked at Lucian for a brief moment before turning his head elsewhere. Lucian didn't call him at all, he knew something was troubling the boy so he decided to lay down and get some rest after the agitated days they had.

As soon as the boy noticed Lucian was asleep, he rose from his seat and left the room. It was nearly midday, and he went straight to one of the balconies to get some fresh air. No one seemed to come and disturb him, nor did anyone actually see him climbing up the stairs. Aaron leaned over the rail and sighed.

He wasn't thinking about the outcome of the battle, at all. He was happy and so glad it was over and they actually won, but his mind wasn't concentrated in that. He was more concerned about what happened inside Lucian's mind, and what that vampiric lady told him and what Perrault argued with them. He was concerned on the fact that part of his _soul_ was linked with Lucian's one, and a tiny part of his was inside his body too. He wasn't going to break up anytime soon, but he couldn't help but think what would happen if they ever break up. He felt that this linking was going to chain him to Lucian the rest of his life, wherever he liked it or not, wherever he still love him or not, and it wasn't fair. Aaron felt now much like Dumas, who was trying to get rid of his past but the chains were too thick and heavy for him to lift and throw away. Besides, being responsible of his vampire's mind was a hard task too, not to mention that the thought of Vanargandr possibly awaking again by some sort of twist in fate scared the fuck out of him. He felt the intense energy and the manipulating and oppressive powers of the Beast when he tried to bring back Lucian's mind from Vanargandr's control, and he was damn sure he didn't want to do it over again.

On the other side, he saw himself as just a teenager boy with constants hormone changes and mood swings the entire time. He was wondering if indeed was everything misunderstood between him and Lucian, and after what happened in the little cottage over the mountains was just pure hormones raging in their bodies and that Lucian was just merely acting up or just being a "gentlemen" after it, just to not let the boy down or something. Aaron would hate it if that was the real reason why Lucian was still with him or why he stayed with him the entire time. He leaned over the rail and groaned.

"This is so difficult…", whispered and jumped startled when he heard a chuckle behind him. "…Rymer?"

The tall vampire smirked and walked next to the boy, leaning over the rail and admiring the landscape before him.

"The Dark Castle had a better view since it was taller than the Vambery. You could even see the large dessert after the frontier in Acuna.", said as he sighed, possibly remembering the times he spent there. Shaking them off, he looked at the boy. "Dumas was a bit curious as to why you left Lucian's side."

"Dumas?", repeated the boy as he arched an eyebrow. Rymer chuckled. "Why didn't he came, then?"

"I don't think Lucian would approve it."

Aaron laughed and returned to his position over the rail. They stood in silence for a few uncomfortable seconds before Rymer spoke up.

"Did something happen while you were captive inside Vanargandr's body?", Aaron raised his head and eyed the auburn vampire, before shrugging his shoulders. "Something you don't want to talk about?"

"It's not that I'm going to tell you either. I mean, why would I?"

"Point taken, but you aren't going to talk about it anytime soon, not even with Lucian, who's the one troubling you, I can see it, or with Terrennial Toasty."

Aaron frowned and sighed.

"I don't know if I really want to…", he stopped and sighed, biting his bottom lip. "I don't think I will like to see how my family grows old as I stay young if I decide or oblige Lucian to turn me into a vampire if I want to stay with him."

Rymer arched his eyebrows, surprised.

"You don't have to _be_ a vampire to be with Lucian."

"Yes I have. Otherwise, I would grow old and he would stay as a young man for eternity. What if I'm like… in my forties or something and they mistook us as father and son? What the fuck?", Rymer laughed hard at that.

"Well, from that point of view you might be right but, don't you love him? Why would it matter if you grow old or not? If he was human you wouldn't really care about that. Are you worried he might not find you attractive as you turn into an aged man?"

"I don't think he _will_, at all."

"So you think the only solution would be turning you into a vampire, right?", Aaron nodded. "Do you realize you will lose your memories? Lucian was already a dhampir to begin with, so the Dark Matter didn't do the same thing it does with normal humans."

The boy bit his bottom lip. Rymer was right, he hadn't thought really about that, which was his main reason for not wanting to become a vampire in the first place, despite how much he loved Lucian. Being unable to remember anything about your life as a human and lose all those feeling he has in his heart wasn't really a choice he would want to do. He had forgotten about that important change with all the heat of the battle and Lucian's transformation but if there was nothing else he could do, what was left? There wasn't a magical potion that would turn him into an immortal being, nor there was an elixir that did the same thing, and he suddenly felt angry again. He tightened his hands over the rail as he glared at the ruined Dark Castle. If there wasn't a way, a safer way, for him to turn into an immortal being then, why would Lucian fell for him in the first place? He would have been more carefull and try to reject the boy if he knew there wasn't any possibilities of that happening. Why would the man keep going if it would only bring pain and disdain to his younger mate?

Why would Lucian do all this if he didn't think there was a way? Why would he act on his own impulses and emotions if he wasn't like that? Aaron was now confused about it, he didn't know what was happening in Lucian's head for him to act the way he did. First, he went with Dumas and asked for help with the transformation, then, he embraced it as if it was the most natural thing he could do, he tried to fight against his inner demon but gave up to it and later gathered its powers, too. Did he actually... used him? Played with his feelings because he knew he would have the others on his side, being him the boy's mate? To achieve his goals easier than if he did it alone? Aaron felt disgusted, his stomach shrinking and feeling he would throw up anytime. Were those his real intentions? But he didn't only use him the most, he also used Dumas, Nish, the Guild's soldiers, Ernest, Bea, Kay, the Terrennials... his own brother. Were the revival of the fallen vampires another part of his elaborated plan?

Rymer watched him, concerned at the sudden change of expression on the boy.

"Are you alright?"

"...No.", whispered, shaking his head softly. "No, not at all...", he sighed deeply. "Why would he do this...? Why would he work so hard for something if I can't stay with him?"

The vampire arched his eyebrows.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you see?", shouted the boy. "He fucking planed this all along! For thirty-fucking-years! He just waited for the right time to move all his pieces!", said as he turned and glared at Rymer. The vampire was a bit confused to what Aaron was talking about until he realized he was talking about Lucian, remembering how he was called back from the Vambery to help the rest of the Terrennials to seal Vanargandr away. For a human like the boy it would be hard to think about his love interest that way, but Rymer had suspected it for a while now.

He wouldn't have guessed the outcome of that plan, though, he was sure that most of it was Lucian's doing from time ago. He also thought it had been plotted between him, Dyango, Dainn and possibly Nidhoggr too, seeing as they were the only ones capable of, literally, do all the things they did; controling Lucian using the needle, which only Nidhoggr could do, liberating him afterwards, convincing Oyan to do things he wouldn't do in first place, Lucian being the actual head of the lead in the war, despite Ernest was the actual leader but the vampire took advantage of his thoughts about not being good enough to play his role well, and eventually gave his leadership to Lucian. Dyango came and tried to befriend Aaron in telling him how Lucian's transformation was coming out, calculating how much time they had left until the needle would broke eventually and Vanargandr would take possession of Lucian's body, dooming them all. Lucian needed Aaron's assistance to be able to be accepted, especially from Toasty, as the Light Terrennial was one of his worst enemies if he didn't acept him. He could burn him to ashes if he wanted. He tricked Dumas in helping him with the transformation in exchange of reviving Rymer for his favors, and dragged him all along the way to do what he wanted. Then, Lucian let the rest work itself out and he managed to graps in his hands the power of one of the most powerful Doomsday Beast over the planet, something Ratatosk could never achieve. No wonder it took him thirty years to calculate all that. A minor mistake and everything would fall.

"Maybe he had a reason.", said Rymer. He heard Aaron sigh angrily. The vampire looked at the boy and then to the Dark Castle. "Think about it. Why would he spend thirty years plotting all this? Didn't he fell in love again once he was out from Ratatosk's control? Why would he keep working in with the plan if he retrieved what he once lost?"

That got Aaron thinking. If Lucian did have a reason, which was it? That got him busy for the rest of the day, even after Rymer left him alone in the balcony to check how Dumas was doing. He couldn't come up with a proper or logical reason, though. The only viable one he thought of was revenge, revenge upon Dumas, upon Vanargandr, upon Ratatosk and possibly many more people who screwed up Lucian's life some way or the other. He talked and talked about that so much that eventually, Lucian convinced everyone that his sole reason for moving was revenge. Aaron now was riffling for more reasons after the little talk, deeper reasons for Lucian to wait for thirty years to finally make his moves. Maybe it was all because of that past love… Carmilla, was it? Maybe his sole reason was for her, and only her. Aaron's heart ached in pain when he thought about that, feeling more used than ever. That night he couldn't sleep at all, he didn't even care trying to. He was too sad about these reflexions that his brain didn't let him rest a single minute. He noticed how everyone was worried about how he was so quiet and inexpressive when, in times like this, he should feel glad. Toasty tried to talk with him but the boy refused to even listen to what the Terrennial had to say.

While Aaron was in an autistic mode, the rest inside the Vambery was still moving around. Most of the injured ones were attended already. Kay and his father received their plasters and now both of them had their arms put back in place after Stoker put the bones in the right places with some crews. Ernest collapsed and slept the entire day much like Bea. Her leg had been stitched up and Stoker told her to ask Sheridan for a good artificial limb. He explained they used to sit for hours planning new stuff and one of them was those. They managed to create a few prototypes and it's possible that the alchemist still had the sketches of them and made be able to build one for Bea. The vampires didn't require a lot of healing since, by now, most of their wounds stopped bleeding and were in an advanced process of healing so they applied a healing cream only. The ones who had severe wounds indeed had the same treatment as humans and were now resting over the floor or on improvised beds made with boxes and old cushions.

Over the day, the revived vampire's body started to degrade faster than it did back in Acuna. Luckily for Stoker, who was probably the most needed, his own body could hold it better, much like Rymer's, but the Viscounts were the worst from the group. The obese vampire said, after a rough examination, that while he couldn't figure out why they were decaying, he said that since their bodies were smaller they succumbed first. He and Rymer had bigger mass making the process slower. They couldn't do much, either, only bandage up the wounds that started to appear from out of the blue and try to keep in place their limbs that seemed to lose strength each passing minute. Edgar was the first in been taken into bed as his legs stopped being able to support his weight. Virginia watched over him, taking care of his wounds albeit her own body presented these same symptoms. Tove felt pity for the girl and accompanied her over the night. Stoker sat quietly in what it used to be his office when he was still the director of the bizarre laboratory, looking through the window, and Rymer was nowhere to be seen, each of them slowly waiting.

Lucian woke up rather late that night, feeling refreshed after the rest and finding most of the humans sleeping already. A few of them were watching over their families and friends and others were too excited to sleep. The vampires were grouped with the humans too, forming groups with the ones still up and a murmur of chit-chat went through the big room. Surprisingly, Nish was alone. He was reclined over an old and worn out divan with his eyes closed. Lucian twisted his mouth and looked around not finding Dumas or any of the vampires the former Duke resurrected with the Terrennial's help. Nor did he saw Aaron, though after some questioning, one of the vampires told him the boy staying with Ernest and the rest. Lucian then sat down with the group to hear the situation of the resurrected vampires, how their health was decaying fast and described to him the strange symptoms they had. He already knew the consequences about it and knew exactly what was happening but he still felt sorry for them, especially the Viscounts. They also told him a few stuff regarding Dumas they had been talking about for the last couple of hours, how they all felt against the fact that Dumas stays in the city and other not so nice feelings held for him.

After some walking around, Lucian found out where the Viscounts were staying. While Virginia and Tove weren't around, Alexander told him how Edgar was doing and how eager was the boy to talk with Lucian about something. The wind Terrennial accompanied the man to the room where he was staying and when he entered, he saw Edgar lying on a bed, on a bed tainted with the blood that poured from his open injuries, even when most of them were warped with bandages. Lucian could see small trails of Dark Matter leaving the body of the boy. He feasted his fists, unable to look away from him now.

"Are you... going to stand there all night or what?", came Edgar's weak voice. He opened his eyes and smiled softly.

Lucian smirked but it soon faded away. He made his way to the bed and sat on the chair where Virginia used to watch over his brother.

"You know, it was too good to be truth.", started Edgar. "One moment you and the boy killed us, and the other we were alive again, facing the gunslinger and Dumas with the Terrennials... And now I'm dying, once more.", he tried to sit but his weak arms fell under his own weight. Lucian helped him and put the pillows comfortably behind him. Edgar sighed and the vampire could see how hard he was trying to prevent his tears to come out. "I believed in the Duke, even in Ratatosk back then... I wanted a place were we vampires could live in peace because, after all, we live in this planet too, it's our home too, right?", the boy looked at Lucian hopefully before moving his eyes in front of him. "Virginia often told me she wanted to go to the Moon after she found out about that stupid cannon...", Lucian laughed softly. The stupid cannon was the thing that made possible for his younger brother to reach him when the seal that lead to the Dark Castle broke. He could make that possible if Virginia wouldn't die so soon. "She said that Lunar people lived there long ago. The city was still up and she wanted to see it... because it was beautiful, and the books didn't do justice to it... But we weren't allowed to go outside space, even just for fun. Ginny and I tried many times to steal Scrhöndinger to just fly a bit... but only Perrault could pilot it."

Lucian sat there and silently heard everything Edgar had to say. The vampire boy put his hands on his stomach, wincing in pain when his shoulder hurt.

"Dumas knew that the soup wouldn't work after a while...", cursed Edgar, frowning. "He knew! After all, he hadn't changed at all! He is still a fucking selfish person, not interested in the feelings of the people surrounding him! Why is he so full of himself even now?", screamed, fastening his hands over his hurting sides. "He used us, just like old times, didn't he?", biting his bottom lip, he readjusted on the pillows, but still with his muscles tensed in anger. "I know I hated him, but now I hate him even more..."

Lucian wanted to tell him the real reason as to why his body was rooting but it would be pointless as the only way to cure him was gone. He never expected Dumas to take the lead in reviving them to use in the war and never guessed the former Duke would have the guts to do it, considering he would see Rymer again when he is now with a new lover he cares about.

Hate was a powerful feeling, something Lucian knew very well and an emotion that drove him to do many of things he did up until now. If Edgar had the strength to move, without doubt he would beat the shit out of Dumas. The thought made Lucian smirk as he watched how Edgar stood in silence before squirming when pain strikes his body. Then, he turned to the other vampire and Lucian saw an emotion he wouldn't guess to see in a vampire, and it was sorrow. He met a lot of vampires who were sad and had even grief, but not sorrow.

"Lucian...", said Edgar, finding enough strengths to sit on the edge of the bed and lock his eyes with him. "I don't want to stay here and wait until my death.", he took a deep sigh. "Waiting like this will be too painful for Virginia and I hate seeing her so depressed and worried like this, it's not fair for her.", the boy took Lucian's hand on his. "Kill me please."

Lucian's eye widened.

"What? "I can't... Well, I can but I won't do it. It's not my right to take your life-", he stopped when Edgar started to laugh and Lucian then realized what he just said. He smiled as well at the irony.

"I'm already dead, Lucian.", his eyes couldn't restrain his tears anymore and so he let them fall on his cheeks. "Don't you see? You killed me along with my sister four years ago! I shouldn't be here, talking to you!", he sniffed, tightening his hands on Lucian's. "At first I was happy to see my sister again, to see that finally everything ended and now there is a world for vampires to live in peace again! But then I remember... I remembered that I was dead for a reason, that you killed me for a reason... And I should stay dead. Because who would like to live like this?", said as he watched how his body slowly disintegrated.

Lucian was about to argue about that but Edgar continued.

"I don't deserve a second chance, neither does the Duke. Really, I don't think he does...", answered at Lucian's mental question. "Just because he changed doesn't mean he undid all he did in the past."

"...you can always try and start from zero, though-"

"That's a second chance! And Dumas doesn't deserves it!", he started to cry again. He tightened the sheets on his hands and ripped them apart out in anger. "He doesn't! People like him shouldn't be grated with a second chance...!"

Lucian knew the real reason why Edgar was mad is the fact that he, along with his sister, were dying for their acts from years ago and the Duke, who should of have the same fate, was alive and kicking. Edgar didn't find it fair and he was angry about that. He might not care about himself, but he cared that Virginia was going to end up the same. She had better possibilities of being accepted since she, overall, was a rather nice and loving person.

"Just kill me already Lucian, I don't want to keep it like this. It hurts Virginia so much... I can't tolerate it...", said Edgar, after a long silence, sitting up and watching Lucian's eyes carefully. "Please, I beg you."

"...Will you mind if I keep your soul and Virginia's?"

It was an odd request, especially from someone like Lucian, Edgar thought. Why would he want something like that? But then he remembered what powers he had now and the fact he now had to feed differently from before. He smiled. At least, he and his sister will be together and in a very safe place.

"I don't think she will mind at all."

Lucian stood up and put his hands on Edgar's shoulders. He could feel the boy trembling under them and how he squeezed his hands nervously.

"...Are you ready?"

"Not at all...", admitted the boy.

Lucian smiled.

"It's not going to hurt more than it already does.", assured as his hands turned purple and from them, several and small oozes came from it, enveloping Edgar's form slowly.

The oozes covered his body and in mere seconds, they disappeared. When Lucian took his hands away he cradled in them a small and glowing orb that formed there. Without thinking it twice, he pushed it against his chest and there it disappeared. He sat on the chair again and saw the lifeless body of Edgar staring him back. He put the body on the bed again, closed its eyes and put his hands on his chest before he left the room. Lucian found Virginia a few meters away from the room and the girl immediately run to him and took a glimpse inside the room. Her eyes watered and tears started to roll down her face. Tove, who was floating behind her, sniffed.

"I'm sorry.", whispered Lucian as she took her away from the door. He noticed, then, that she was missing her right arm and left eye and had bandages all around her body.

Virginia sat on a chair and Tove sat on her shoulder, hugging her as Lucian dragged another chair and sat in front of her.

"He told me he wanted to bring you to the moon.", said Lucian and she smiled, crying out loud and laughing at the same time. "If you hang in a little, I might be able..."

"No, it's ok. I know all the effort he put to let me visit it, but right now I don't care anymore.", Virginia dried off her tears with her left hand and sniffed. "What happened with his soul? Alexander told me he didn't want it anymore..."

"I have it.", Virginia looked at him, puzzled.

"How? I thought Terrennials were the only ones..."

"I'm a descendant of the Lunar Tribe and I still held Lunar Energy within me, so I can save yours and Edgar's soul in me. It's what he wanted, too."

Virginia gave a small nod, putting her hand on her lap as she twisted the edge of her small skirt.

"How are Rymer and Stoker?", Lucian changed the subject and Virginia seemed to appreciate it.

"Stoker's body is falling to pieces, and Rymer's is still hanging, but I doubt he will be able to save his ass from this.", she sighed. "I'm so sad for Rymer... He really was one of the few from our group I truly cared for.", she frowned moments later. "Dumas wasn't worth of him, even in the first years of just knowing him, he treated Rymer like crap, thinking he was so mighty to do whatever he pleased."

"You should save that strength for later.", reassured Lucian with a soft smile. Virginia blushed lightly, avoiding his gaze. He stood up. "You will probably need it."

""Where are you going?", asked Tove.

"Somewhere.", waved his arm as he disappeared once he went through the door.

Nero appeared on his shoulder, rubbing his head against his neck, Lucian scratching his ears when the Terrennial finally took his position, hearing him purr. The two of them hadn't to walk far from the room to find Dumas sitting besides a window, looking outside at the starry sky. Perrault was sitting on his head, doing the same. Lucian reclined on a couch in front of him, without saying anything and Nero curled behind his head, adopting a more comfortable position on his shoulders. Dumas looked at him but didn't say anything. None of them did or say anything for some minutes though the horned man wondered why Lucian would spend time with him rather with Aaron. He didn't care much about it, either, he was more concerned about Rymer in those instants and was trying to digest the fact he was no longer going to see him. When the vampire came to him, his body was already rooting, missing some fingers and with tainted bandages all around his muscled form. It made the former Duke cry without being able to hold his tears. Perrault was unable to keep seeing Rymer like that and excused herself, disappearing from sight as the two of them shared a tight hug, though Rymer only wanted to properly say good-bye to him since the first time he couldn't. The vampire detested the idea of Dumas staying with him and watching him die when he already had a new partner to share his grief and sadness with. The decision made Dumas angry at the time, he complained and argued with Rymer about it, but now he understood and was glad to not experience it.

"I thought you were going to be with Rymer."

Dumas growled and hissed at Lucian. Perrault frowned and started to wipe her tail angrily.

"Do you think I will be able to endure seeing my first love die, again, before me?", whispered between his teeth as he glared at Lucian, but he laughed softly, which irritated Dumas even more.

"What the fuck are you laughing at?", cried Perrault.

"So, now you know...", he grinned and Dumas' expression became still. "You know what I felt when I lost Ella, what Aaron felt when he lost Trinity, what Nish felt when he lost his friends and past lovers, what everyone felt when you were in charge...", he laughed again. "You kept saying you were angry and sad about Rymer's dead in the first place, but you were only looking for an excuse for your behavior a decade ago."

"Shut up!", Dumas stood up violently and almost hit Lucian if it wasn't that Nero was with him. He could feel his power already leaking out of the Terrennial, forcing him to step bakcwards. He stood in place with his fists trembling in anger. "I know what I did ten years ago, I don't need anyone or anything to excuse myself from the things I have done!"

"Oh please, don't tell me you didn't want to rip my head off when you found out who I killed first.", the vampire grinned. "You still did whatever you wanted with the other vampires under your charge, even when Rymer was officially your mate you still treated him like a nobody when you were on the throne."

Dumas' eye opened in shock and the luna Terrennial frowned.

"How do you know about that?", asked as her tail wiped out again.

"Virginia just told me."

Dumas swallowed hard, frowning as he glared at Lucian who had a cocky smirk on his face.

"…it did happen, but not anymore."

"Stop being a liar!", shouted Lucian, standing up and confronting Dumas face to face. "You hadn't change, at all! If you changed like you are saying, you wouldn't have asked me to revive Rymer when I asked you to help me out with my vampire powers! Instead of possibly avenging Rymer's death by taking my life right there or actually _refuse_ to help me out, you decided that you needed someone to cry over his shoulder, to complain about your problems or just to fuck around!", Dumas flinched at Lucian's shouting, but remained silent. "Even now Nish is putting a lot of effort from his part to maintain this relationship and I really admire him, because there is no fucking way someone would ever want you.", he growled, expecting a comeback, but when nothing happened, he kept talking. "You always been selfish and narcissist, you always thought only of you, don't really caring at all about others. And don't start with the whole war thing because you know very well it was only because it would benefit you."

"And to hundred of people too.", was Dumas' weak reply.

"Oh, don't start, don't start...", Lucian grinned and chuckled. "I know very well what you were thinking while the war lasted. Don't try to hide it because I know very well that you didn't give a damn about us, you just... played along, you could say. You used us… I don't doubt that you changed your point of views over the years, or that you are trying to change yourself but just because you want to change and be a better person doesn't undo the things you did in the past.", the vampire lifted his right hand and touched Dumas' right cheek but he slapped it away. "You keep trying like you want to erase the past, to pretend that nothing happened, that you never been that cruel tyrant that ruled the world and enslaved humans, who hunted and terrorized cities and towns of the East. Give up, Dumas.", he sat on the small, old and ragged couch again. "People don't forget that easily and just because you helped a lot in this war, doesn't mean they're going to forgive you for the things you did to them."

Dumas grinded his teeth and dug his nails on his palms, using all his strength to prevent choking the life out of Lucian. Instead, he decided to flop down on the same styled couch and let Perrault pet his head to try and calm him down. After some instants, the man's expression changed again into an angry one when a thought crossed his mind.

"Then...", he started. "Then you _knew_ Rymer wasn't going to survive... Even when I asked you to revive him with Ursula, you still agreed to it, knowing the consequences!"

"You should have known already that it was impossible for other Terrennials, besides Perrault, to revive the fallen vampires. You seem to have forgotten a lot of the ancient culture.", calmly said Lucian as he stroke Nero's chin lazily.

Dumas arched his eyebrows in confusion. His nails, which had been digging into the armchairs, relaxed a bit.

"What do you mean?"

"The only element with enough power of healing is Luna.", started the vampire. "It has more healing properties than the Earth, and Luna element can restore the body and the soul of a living thing effortless with the time. It was quiet obvious that you were going to succeed in reviving because your Terrennial is of the Luna element, meaning that Perrault's power was enough to restore your body functions to normal, to fix every little thing it had off. How do you think you lasted until today?"

"If that's true then, why my body hasn't healed after all these years? Why I still feel dizzy, nauseous and can't trace with her?"

"It did heal.", Lucian answered to the first question. "The dizziness is probably a side effect of the powers working on your body. While Luna element can restore a body, it takes time to restore it completely. Your physical body should be already healed, but what it's restoring should be your powers. That takes a lot of time. That's why you can't trace with her yet but can summon your own powers. As long as you aren't healed completely, you can't use her powers… Perrault was only speeding up your process in recovering your powers."

"Why didn't she used them in the first place?", asked, looking up to his Terrennial. Lucian shrugged.

"Maybe if she did, it would be too much to your new and recovered body. She might know about that and healed you slowly to prevent the breaking of your physical form."

"Wouldn't she be able to... fix the other's bodies?"

Lucian looked at Dumas with surprise.

"Didn't Perrault told you?", the man looked up to her and saw a faint blush of embarrassment cross her face. Her tail wiped again. "She lost her powers when the Terrennials sealed Vanargandr.", the former Duke widened his eyes. "She isn't able to use her Luna powers anymore, like Nero can't use his Dark powers anymore. He only can because I share my own energy with him."

"…What about her then?"

"I'm bonded to you, in the same way Nero's bonded with Lucian so I doubt I will disappear anytime soon. Since I'm not able to keep restoring your power you might never be able to gather them at all.", softly said Perrault.

Silence followed and after a few seconds, Lucian stood up and walked past Dumas. The vampire rose his gaze and watching him.

"I'm leaving now, I have to work with the others.", he waved a good bye but then stopped, turning to face Dumas again. "Ah, by the way, half the people in here want you dead. I suppose you should know…", the vampire smirked when he say that Dumas stood up with a shocked expression on his face. Then, the expression faded off and it was replaced with a dark killing desire growing faster each passing second.

"…This… This is what you wanted, from the very beginning, right!", screamed with poison in his words, tightening his fists even harder now.. "You used me, you used everyone in here. You used even your own mate to make true your goals; you are no different from me."

Lucian stood in place, with the words in his mind, thinking over them. After a few seconds, he smiled.

"Yeah, in some aspects I'm very similar to you and to a hundred of humans and vampires. The only difference is that I'm not obsessed with supremacy of a certain race. Besides, this wasn't only my own goal, my own dream. This was a promise I made to a lot of people in the past. Unlike you, that can't fulfill anything your own life without stepping on others, I keep my word to the very end and use my own means.", he smiled again. "I bet you know that you will not be welcome here anymore, so I suggest you and Nish starts packing their things and go where the wind guides you."

Dumas watched angrily how Lucian's figure disappeared in the shadows. He returned his gaze then to the window before coming and punching the wall in front of him, opening a huge hole on it. Perrault jumped from his head, feeling the intense energy coming from Dumas. He couldn't believe all what Lucian did was to finally exile him from the East Lands, to take everything from him, to force him to hide and be ashamed of what he is. He couldn't believe that after eleven years Lucian finally got his revenge on him from what he had done in the past. The worst thing was that he couldn't even _notice_ what Lucian was thinking all along. Dumas thought _he_ was the one convincing and controlling the man to finally have what he asked for in exchange of his favors, only to see it was the other way around. He even might have been responsible of him eventually suggesting reviving the fallen vampires with all his indirect of "not having enough soldiers" or "not being strong enough". He also now realized that he only came to him in the first place so he could gather Perrault's powers, to be able to get Vanargandr's one afterwards. Since the beginning he clearly had the intention to bring everything to madness just to achieve an almost impossible dream.

"The fucker!", shouted opening another hole on the wall.

Several days passed since then. Most of the families were already working on the crumbled houses, having the help of the rest of the community from different parts of the East Lands. The ones hiding in other places were coming as well once they heard the battle was over and were working in rebuilding Acuna. Kay decided to go back to his old village to see his family for the first time in a long while, saying he would be back in a few months, but Ernest indirectly told him it was fine if he wanted to stay there. If Ernest had a family still alive, he might as well do the same.

Not everyone was happy with the outcome, though. Vampires who were angry about this "race merging" started to argue and complain about the fact, treating in creating another "war" to kick the humans and the vampires who allied with them out of the city, but Lucian was clear enough that there wasn't a chance of negotiating and kindly invited them to stay and face the consequences, or leave peacefully to other regions. This went for the humans too and there were already a few of them who were packing up their belongings, the ones that managed to survive to the battle, including Sheridan and Carmilla. The professor was glad the fight was over, he was happy that everyone he cared for managed to come alive, that his inventions were a great success but he couldn't forget the years he spent with Stoker and Dumas, all the horrible experiments he did and the lives he destroyed. He couldn't bear the fact vampires were going to live within this same city or next to him. The thought was disgusting and he opted to leave the East Lands towards places where more humans than vampires lived. He would keep in touch, he would indeed miss the city and miss his companions and friends but he couldn't get over it.

Aaron decided to help Sheridan to pack his things to keep him occupied and away from Lucian for the moment. He was better after all the thinking and the little chat with Rymer days before, more questions popping in his mind but he wasn't in the mood right now to confront Lucian about them. He wanted to stay with the professor for the time he could before he finally leaves. Sheridan appreciated the kind act and was happy as well, putting away a lot of stuff he had saved over the years and he had no idea he still had. Some prototypes of new solar guns were capable of working and those were some of the gifts he gave to Aaron, among some photographs he had of him, Carmilla and Laura for the boy to keep.

"Where's Carmilla?", asked Aaron after noticing the maid was no where to be seen.

Sheridan tensed his muscles and doubted if he should tell Aaron about it. He bended down and took a closed box, gripping the edges of it with his fingers. The man sighed, dropping his shoulders.

"…She… She wanted to talk with Lucian for a bit before we depart.", the man put the box into a bigger one. "I don't know about what, but I guess she feels a bit nostalgic or something.", Aaron's body tensed as well, but he paid no attention to it. Instead of worrying it, he kept helping the man with his belongings.

Said maid and the vampire were quietly walking in the crumbled Acuna, in a part where no one was repairing yet. Silence reined the place and only the wind blew from time to time. The sun was still rising on the horizon, but Lucian thought it should be around nine in the morning. He wore his casket armor like always but, this time, he had put on his old cloak, which was torn and ripped in certain parts but his pockets were still unharmed, where his hands were resting now. Carmilla wasn't wearing his maid uniform and, instead, had a black dress that reached her knees with sleeves reaching her elbows. There was a collar around her neck with the same red jewel she uses in her maid uniform and the same black shoes. Lucian was very surprised when the girl came to the Vambery and asked to talk with him privately, raising everyone's curiosity and the anger of a certain teenager boy. While Lucian knew he might be doing a risky move he still went with her to know what she wanted to talk about. That lead them to walk around Acuna in silence and Lucian was starting to get a bit impatient with Carmilla.

"How's Aaron?"

"Confused.", Lucian didn't look at her, neither did Carmilla. There was certain awkwardness between them, in the way they walked and tried to stay as far as they could without making it too obvious to the other. "He had been realizing a lot of stuff lately, about me mostly, and some others about himself too.", he took a quick glance at the girl and saw that same emotionless face she always wore from the day she was turned into a hybrid android. "He's angry and, at the same time, happy. Can't say he is completely fine but he isn't going to jump of a cliff either."

Carmilla smiled softly. This made Lucian smile too.

"He seems to be a nice kind, right?", she wondered around with her eyes and saw the big wall that was the frontier that coasted with the enormous dessert just behind it. "Laura is a nice girl too. Very sweet and loves my company. I enjoy it, too and I admit I had fled from the mansion a few times to visit her.", Lucian couldn't hold his laugh when she admitted this, which made Carmilla laugh softly too.

"She seems to be quiet charming.", they started to climb up the stairs that lead to the wall and the first dunes of sand came into view.

"With all these happening… I had been having… flashes of memories…", she crossed her arms over her chest, tightening her hands over them. "I can't say I got all my memories back, but at last I know what I once did back in the Guild, when you…", she spoke slowly and almost into a whisper. Lucian remained silent and with his eyes fixed in front of him. The dessert was now fully visible once they reached the highest part of the wall and the wind up there was stronger than at floor level. "Sheridan said it might have been trigged with the stress of the war and the emotions attached to it what it opened the door to those memories, though it might sound hard for you, I guess, I'm really not too pleased about it."

"I wouldn't be either.", replied, coming to a stop and finally facing Carmilla. "Sometimes I wish I could erase them. I don't have nice memories from my past, of what I did, of what had happened from the times I lost you. If I were able to lose them all, I would, but it's something it's going to torment me for the next centuries.", he saw how Carmilla frowned in sadness. He sighed and smiled. "Don't be like that. I'm used to it by now."

"…I wasn't talking about the… past of the Guild when I stopped.", she avoided his eyes and Lucian felt his body tense out of the sudden. "…I came to remember my other past life."

"…B-But… How?", Carmilla shrugged.

"A part of me was still locked up in your mind, in your soul.", then, it hit him. "When Aaron put a part of him into you, when… I put the remaining powers into his body so he could bring you back, it's when that part of me disappeared it's when the images started to appear. It seemed that the thing that holds back the memories from my past life was that part of me that was still linked to you."

Lucian faced the dessert. The wind blew and played with his cloak and their hairs. Carmilla was unsure if she should approach or stay where she was. She opted, though, to stay there.

"But… I felt I didn't belong there anymore.", Carmilla smiled sadly. "Inside your mind… I felt it was all about Aaron and all the love you have for him. I saw how willing he was to reach for you, to try and bring you back using whatever means he had.", she turned too and gazed upon the dessert. "You're in good hands so I'm good with it.", Lucian, unable to keep his composure, laughed.

"Yeah… Laura is a good girl too, so I suppose I shouldn't be worried about it either."

"Although…", her face turned serious from a moment to another and the man had an idea of what she was worried about in reality. "He…"

"Yes, he is angry at me because of that too."

"Well, I used to be angry too when you used me despite you were madly in love with me back then.", Lucian blushed in embarrassment and bit his bottom lip. "I know Lunar Children have a lot to struggle with their two faces of their powers but it's been a while since your kindness showed up. I could see it when you are with Aaron and feel all the love you can give to him. Don't let lunacy take over you like it did in the past.", they remained silent for a few seconds before she spoke again. "Unless you truly don't love him.", whispered, turning his head and seeing how Lucian's eye widened. "Don't get me wrong, but I'm talking about my own experience."

The man remained silent and Carmilla did the same. They stood there for a few minutes before the girl suggested returning to the city. Lucian walked behind Carmilla now, thinking about it.

Perhaps Aaron might think he has a wrong impression of Lucian's feelings and actions, but the vampire was certain he loved the boy. At first he had other thoughts for him and for what he wanted to do, but in the meaning time he started to see how nice it was to spend time with him and the things he learned from him too. He couldn't count the times Aaron yelled his lungs out, arguing with Lucian about his past or other things he said it were stupid or didn't matter at all. In more than one way, Aaron opened Lucian's eyes and his personality grew into him. His nature is somewhat lonely and not much talkative as any other normal man and it might be true his actions lead to some misconceptions, especially for Aaron who didn't know how to translate them, bringing up a lot of questions and doubts in him, but Lucian had to be discreet or his plan would fall. He had to be secretive and sometimes uncaring with Aaron to be able to do the things he did. He _needed_ the boy like that in order to make things easier for him.

It hurt Lucian more than anything he did in the last thirty years, it made his heart ache in an unbearable pain when he fucked him and didn't talk or show any emotions after it. He wanted to cuddle and hug the boy, and show that he truly loved him and loved to be with him, but he couldn't have the boy against him and his thoughts, which was the reason why he wanted Aaron to stay and don't participate in the war for most of the time, why he didn't talk about what he was feeling or the reason why he was so silent about his past, too. Dyango was this close to bust all the hard work he had done and for that he had been pretty angry at him, the reason why he had hit him when he encountered back in Acuna or still treat him like crap every now and then. He is calmer now and even happy to see his little brother again but it seemed Dyango had a bitter feeling from it and was now ignoring Lucian. He didn't mind that, though. Knowing Dyango, he knew it wouldn't be too long until the young man was all over him again.

He was now regretting a bit of doing all of that. Aaron was having second thoughts about their relationship, he couldn't blame him after what happened, and Lucian suspected it might end up with both of them taking different paths in life. It saddened him to think they had high chances of splitting apart but Lucian was optimist, for the first time in his life.

When they finally returned to the more active part of the city it was already noon. Sheridan was ready to go, he built an improvised carriage from some wood boxes he found in his mansion and Gunda helped him to tie two of their Lizardmen to help them carry over the stuffs. From the attack of the strange, black shadows, only five lizardmen survived. Two of them were going with Sheridan and the other three were going to be used to carry the ones who were incapable of walking from Gunda's group. They didn't left yet since Kay told his father he wanted to stay at least one more day before going and Gunda acceded to his son's wishes. Carmilla gave Lucian a friendly hug before she jumped over the carriage with Laura and Sheridan, quickly driving off when she was up. The workers were slowly stopping their jobs to eat and take a break, so the place was getting empty slowly. Lucian stood in place, watching them leave before he turned to his right when he spotted from the corner of his eye Aaron's figure walking to him.

Aaron seemed to be tired despite he had taken a lot of rest after returning to the Vambery. His naturally small form seemed smaller after the hard and exhausting work from the past months that nearly consumed him. His hair was indeed longer and wilder as Lucian soon noticed, his face showing up a more mature look despite he was now officially seventeen. The boy's birthday had been over a week ago but it was no place or time to celebrate something like that. Aaron was aware of it too but he wasn't in the mood lately to think about it either. The first thing the man noticed also, when Aaron was now standing next to him, were the fact that his eyes turned a beautiful shade of what it seemed to be a yellowish-orange color, something close to golden but not shining like it. His pupils were thin lines, like Lucian's, and the man could see the tip of premature fangs growing inside Aaron's mouth when he opened it to speak.

"Where did you go with Carmilla?", he didn't sound angry, but there was a hint of jealousy in it. He was standing straight with his arms crossed and his eyes fixed on Lucian.

"To the frontier, she wanted to talk.", the man turned and faced Aaron completely yet his hands remained inside his pockets. "Where were you these days?"

"Working and helping the others, trying my hand in building but I rather leave that to the experts."

Lucian snorted but he saw Aaron didn't mean it as a joke. He sighed.

"Just spit it out. I hate it when you go around like this.", Aaron bit the insides of his cheeks before he uncrossed his arms and put them on his sides.

"Why?", he extended his right hand and looked around, showing to Lucian what he meant with it. "How could you do this to… to Ernest, Bea, Kay? Me, of all people!"

"I pretty much didn't care about Ernest and the rest, nor do I care what had happened to them because of my doings. My only concern was you.", he lifted one of his hands to stop Aaron when he was about to talk. The boy shut his mouth. "I'm well aware I might have given you the wrong vibe, that you might have seen I didn't care about what we have or give the impression I was only with you to be my fucktoy.", Aaron winced at the word as he had been slapped across the face. He bit his cheeks again and tried to keep his composure. "But I _do_ care about you, I mind the things that make you uncomfortable or anything that has to do with you because I deeply care."

"The thoughts I saw in your mind the two times I had to dig into your brain weren't exactly too reassuring.", he frowned.

Lucian stood silent for a few seconds then, he smirked.

"Oh, dearest child, don't you remember that you shared your _own_ memories with me, too? Have you forgotten those thoughts about saying how crazy I was to do this, that I was a completely _idiot_ for doing this? That I was a selfish bastard, an arrogant and pretty much the things I think about Dumas? You even compared him to me in more than one occasion. ", Aaron's skin paled and took a single step backwards when Lucian approached him, having his face millimeters away from his. "How did you think I felt knowing my own _boyfriend_ thought I was an ass? Not so good, I assure you, so don't pretend the only one hurt here is you."

"The give me a more logical or… or a more _convincing_ reason as to WHY you caused… such… mess? Why would you go to this extreme just to… to do this?", Aaron's anger suddenly faded away and was replaced with resignation. He sighed and, instinctively, he put his forehead against Lucian's, to see if that heavy feeling would go away by feeling the skin, the presence of the man he loved. Another thing Lucian noticed was how tall the boy had become. Lucian smirked and laughed softly. He kissed Aaron on the lips for the first time after all that time and then he started to walk backwards.

"All I wanted in my life, all I truly craved since day one was power. I wanted power, I wanted to be the strongest and Ratatosk provided me the greatest source of power in the entire Galaxy.", he put a hand on his chest. "It resides in me now, and I'm virtually able to do _anything_ I want now. But this…", he did a turn with his arms extended, showing the entire city to Aaron's eyes. "This… This I made it for _you._ And it was my most important thing after I met you. At first it was out of pure selfishness but once I met you…", he laughed again as he walked off. "You can't complain much either. You _are_ the mate of the most powerful creature in this planet, of this Galaxy, and you have it to your entire disposition. You have the power to _control_ me, can't you realize that yet?", he smiled and laughed again. "Why, you ask? Because I love you."

Lucian turned around and walked off, leaving a very shocked Aaron behind. He couldn't believe that was Lucian's true intentions all along. He suspected the fact it had been done to be able to gather Vanargandr's power but… Give himself entirely just for him? He couldn't believe it but was glad to know Lucian indeed loved him, loved him deeply as Aaron did.

Then, he smirked. He crossed his arms and chuckled softly. So, he had Vanargandr's powers at his hand too, to do whatever he pleased as well… He chuckled again. He was now fully realizing he had such power at his disposition too, and it felt somewhat good. No wonder why Lucian wanted them, why Ratatosk so eagerly pursued them and how Dumas craved them back. His chest filled with an indescribable feeling… but he shook it off his head. There were stuff to do and Lucian would probably take a walk in what it were now his new kingdom before reuniting with him again to discuss about the curse and vampirism and keep reading that stupid book. The boy, with a smile on his face, run back to the Vambery to see if there was something he could still do now that Sheridan was gone. Dyango, Dainn and Nidhoggr were up on a roof and been watching the entire scene between the two. Dyango, who was the only one sitting on the edge with the book he wrote in his hands, took off his hat and gave a sigh. He smirked, looking the figure of his brother on the street.

"You know…", said the young man, playing with his hat. The book forgotten for the moment. The title, written out with golden letters, shone brightly with the sunlight. "After all what happened, I'm still unable to know who's controlling who."


End file.
